THE LEGISLATIVE LISTS

Justice will not be done to a discussion on this topic without a reference to the three(3) Arms of Government. A government can be likened to a machinery. A machinery is operated by the full performance of different gadgets attached to it, each gadget performing a specific function aiding the operation of the machine. Every government is run by three major gadgets known as the Arms of Government. These are- the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The Legislature is the arm of the government that makes/enacts the law; the Executive is the arm of the government that executes the law while the Judiciary is the arm of the government that interprets the law. Note that the Media is included as the fourth Arm of Government functioning as the watch dog of the other three.

Nigeria as a nation practices federalism. A federal system of government is a system in which the individual States have control over their own affairs but are controlled by a central government for national decisions  (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 6th Ed.).The government of the federation of Nigeria is divided into three- the Federal Government; the State Government and the Local Government. These are called the Three Tiers of Government. Each tier of government is run by the afore-listed three arms- the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Our point of focus is on the Legislative arm of each of these governments especially the Federal Government and the State Governments. While the legislative arm of the Federal Government is called the National Assembly, that of the State Government is called the House of Assembly.

Thus, in a political setting like this, one major political challenge is unavoidable- disputes regarding the extent of power of the Legislative House of each government(State or Federal) and the subject matter of the legislation. These challenges are what the Legislative List has come to resolve and the List has effectively reduced the frequency of disputes arising out of power frictions between the Federal and State governments. Thus, there exist three(3) Legislative Lists which define the extent of the legislative powers of the Federal and State governments- the Exclusive List, the Concurrent List and the Residual List.

THE EXCLUSIVE LEGISLATIVE LIST

The Exclusive List contains matters only the Federal Government can legislate upon. This List excludes specifically any State government from exercising its legislative powers on any matter on the List. Section (4)(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended) 1999, provides thus-

“The National Assembly shall have power to make Laws

for the peace, order and good government of the

Federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter

included in the Exclusive List set out in Part 1 of the Second

Schedule to this Constitution”.

If we take a look on the stated Part 1, second Schedule of the Constitution, there we have listed, matters contained in the Exclusive List, about 68 items. Click here for the List.

THE CONCURRENT LEGISLATIVE LIST

This List contains items on which both the Federal and State governments can legislate on. The List empowers both the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly to legislate on any item contained in this List. Just as the name depicts, these matters are concurrently legislated upon by both governments. By the provisions of Section(4)(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended) 1999.

“ … the National Assembly shall have power to make laws with respect to…

(a) any matter in the concurrent Legislative List set out in the First

Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second

column opposite thereto…”

I shall restate the second leg of the above provision which describes the partnership nature envisaged in the Concurrent Legislative List.

“… to the extent prescribed in the

second column opposite thereto…”

Part II of the Second Schedule of the Constitution has a list of matters on which both the Federal and State governments can legislate on. Every first column of the Part has an opposite second column. The first column empowers the National Assembly to legislate on the item of reference while the opposite second column gives an equal right to the State Houses of Assembly to legislate on the same item of reference.

THE RESIDUAL LEGISLATIVE LIST

Just as there is specifically what is called the Exclusive Legislative List and the Concurrent Legislative List in the Constitution, there is no such list named the Residual Legislative List in the Constitution.The Residual List is an abstract list compiled from the implied terms of the provisions of Section 4. of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended), 1999.  In other words, by the combined reading of the provisions of Section 4, the Residual List does exist. The Residual List refers to items that are not in both the Exclusive and Concurrent Lists, which the State Houses of Assembly will indisputably legislate upon. Thus, anything not in the Exclusive and Concurrent List is invariably exclusively reserved for the State governments to legislate upon.

 

Questions, suggestions and contributions are highly welcome.

Check my Mini Law Dictionary here.

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