Compiled By: Engr. Kabiru el-Hussain Rumah Jakadan Rumah
What is an Executive Order ?
There is no precise judicial definition of what an Executive Order is!
Before a Law is passed, it has to go through a lawmaking process, in the National Assembly.
This lawmaking process can at times take months or years, before it lands on the President’s table for ascenting and hence becoming a law.
On the other hand, an Executive Order is a shortcut to this long process.
A President can use it to issue a directive without going through the painful process of begging the National Assembly for approval.
*How useful is an Executive Order ?*
Even though Executive Orders allow a President to shortcut legislative review, they still need to not clash with established laws, especially the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
For example, the Buhari administration ran into problems when Executive Order Number: 10 violated this principle and the Court anulled it!
Here are the rundown of all the 14 Executive Orders signed by President Buhari’s administration from 2015 to date!
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 1*
While Buhari was on his record-breaking 103-day medical leave in London in 2017, his Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, signed the administration’s first four Executive Orders, while he was acting President.
He signed the first three Executive Orders on May 18th 2017.
*Executive Order (EO) Number 1* addressed the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the Nigerian business environment. It was designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 2!*
This Executive Order mandated the timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all government agencies.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 3!*
This Executive Order addressed support for local content in public procurement. All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government were directed to grant preference to local manufacturers of goods and service providers.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 4!*
This Executive Order addressed the Federal Government’s Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS). The government offered tax amnesty to taxpayers who had not been fulfilling their tax obligations. Defaulters were asked to regularize their tax affairs before March 2018.
This is the fourth and final Executive Order signed by Osinbajo, as Acting President on June 29th 2017.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 5!*
This Executive Order was Buhari’s debut, signed on February 6th 2018. With Executive Order 5, Buhari ordered government agencies to give preference to Nigerian companies and firms over foreigners when awarding contracts. The order also stopped the Ministry of Interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 6!*
This Executive Order addressed the preservation of suspicious assets connected with corruption. The order allowed the government to assume control of assets linked to ongoing criminal investigations and trials. Buhari signed the order on July 5th 2018.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 7!*
This Executive Order enabled private sector entities to construct and refurbish roads across Nigeria in exchange for tax benefits, from the government. Buhari signed the order on January 25th 2019.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 8!*
This Executive Order provided a 12-month period of grace for Nigerian taxpayers to voluntarily declare and pay tax on their offshore assets through the Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS). In exchange, they wouldn’t be prosecuted for tax offences and offences related to offshore assets.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 9!*
Buhari used this Executive Order to mandate that Nigeria must become open defecation-free by 2025. The Executive Order directed that all public places including schools, fuel stations, places of worship, market places and hospitals must have accessible toilets within their premises. Buhari signed the order on November 20th 2019.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 10!*
With this Executive Order, Buhari directed the financial independence of the state legislature and judiciary whose purse strings are controlled by their Governors. The President signed the order on May 22nd 2020, but the Supreme Court nullified it on February 11th 2022. The Court ruled that the order violated the principles of the separation of powers set by the constitution.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 11!*
This Executive Order addressed the maintenance of national public buildings. Buhari directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government (MDAs) to set up maintenance departments and make them functional to preserve government assets. Buhari signed the order on April 6th 2022.
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 12!*
This Executive Order is on improving the performance management, coordination and implementation of the presidential priorities, targeted at institutionalizing a culture of accountability and transparency, in the pursuit of good governance, in Nigeria. It was signed on 18th October, 2022!
*Executive Order (EO) Number: 14!*
This Executive Order is on the establishment of a Presidential Transition Council ( PTC) to facilitate and manage the 2023 transition programme. The Executive Order will ensure the facilitation and management of the Presidential Transitions and a key feature of this Executive Orde is the institutionalization of a legal framework that would enable a seamless transition of power from one Presidential Administration to another which is part of President Buhari’s legacy. It was signed on February, 9 2023!
*It may interest many here to know that, since 1999, none of Nigeria’s three presidents before Buhari ever signed an Executive Order, but, President Muhammad Buhari has so far signed 14 Executive Orders, since 2015!*