BY J. O. AROWOSEGBE

MAY 2013

Abstract

This article examines the nature and extent of federal legislative powers under the Nigerian Constitution. Federal legislative powers examined are of three species. The first species consists of matters in the exclusive legislative list while the second derives from the concurrent legislative list to the extent prescribed therein. The third refers to legislative powers granted in the body of the Constitution. This article also considers the constitutional procedure for the exercise of these powers. The author discovers among others that the Constitution grants unduly extensive federal exclusive legislative powers and fields of concurrency with the attendant negative impact on the autonomy and independence of state governments – an antithesis to the fundamental basis of federal systems. This phenomenon is recently deepened by the new species of concurrent legislative powers recognized by the Supreme Court in chapter II of the Constitution. The article hence closes by recommending that some matters such as police, natural resources and creation of states be removed from the exclusive list and that the courts should adopt a restrictive approach in interpreting the provisions of Item 60(a) of the exclusive list to conform to what the author believes to be the intention of the drafters of the Constitution.