By-Oke Orhonigbe
The Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has revealed the secret of his administration’s success in the last six years.
Okowa disclosed this in his speech at the General Meeting of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures held at the Delta Event Center in Asaba, the state capital.
He said one of the secrets of his administration’s success is the cordial relationship between his administration and the state legislature.
He said the relationship has been that of of respect, cooperation and trust.
He said: “That is not to say we have not had moments of disagreements but whenever this occurs we engage ourselves in proper dialogue, rather than open confrontation to reconcile our differences”.
Governor Okowa noted that the first step to building sustainable partnership between the executive and legislative arms of government for effective service delivery is for both organs to work with the consciousness that separation of power is imperative for good government.
He further stated that compromise is a virtue in politics that every politician must possess.
“Compromise is essential to effective executive legislature relationship. A good leader knows when, where and how to reach compromise to achieve a win-win situation for the effective running of the system”, the governor said.
Okowa also advised that there must always be appropriate consultations between the executive and
legislature in matters relating to politics and policy formulation.
The chairman conference of speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Rt Hon Abubakar Suleiman, lauded the Governor for his consistency and undying support towards financial autonomy for both the state legislature and judiciary as granted by the 4th alteration to the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He added that the industrial actions embarked upon by both JUSUN and PASAN in the last two months would have been needless if other states had shown same support as Okowa does.
Suleiman described the conference as a medium to deliberate on issues affecting the state legislature and other topical national issues for the development of the country.
He said: “We acknowledge this is a critical stage in the life of our country that all hands must be on deck to proffer solutions to all the problems threatening our unity”
Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, said Delta state has been hosting national events.
He listed the Southern governors forum, Senate and House of Representatives committees on review of the 1999 constitution and the hosting of second quarter general meeting of the conference of speakers of state legislatures.
He commended chairman of the conference and other stakeholders who worked assiduously to resolve the isdues of financial autonomy for the state houses of assembly.
He told the conference participants that the Delta House of Assembly had been enjoying financial autonomy long before the PASAN members embarked on the strike action.
