JUST IN: S’Court voids Buhari’s Executive Order 10, declares it illegal

Executive Order 10, which President Muhammadu Buhari issued on the funding of State Judiciary and Legislature has been declared illegal by the Supreme Court.

The apex court, in a split decision by a seven-man panel of Justices on Friday, held that President Buhari acted beyond his statutory powers.

The judgment followed a suit that was filed by 36 states of the federation. While six Justices upheld the suit, a member of the panel dismissed it.

It will be recalled that President Buhari had in the Executive Order he signed on May 22, 2020, made it mandatory for all states to include allocations of both the Legislature and the Judiciary in their Appropriation Laws, in compliance with section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended).

However, in the suit marked SC/655/2020, which was filed on September 17, 2020, the 36 States, through their Attorneys-General, queried the legality of the Presidential Executive Order 10.

The Plaintiffs posed two legal questions for the Supreme Court to determine, following which they asked for nine reliefs.