The age long debate over restructuring and devolution of powers in Nigeria has now been reawakened with three recent Constitution Alterations assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari. The three Constitution Alteration Acts which were part of the bills that gained Presidential assent in March 2023 alter the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, to move Railways and Prisons from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List and \u00a0expands the powers of States to legislate on Electricity under the Concurrent List. The Exclusive Legislative List is contained in Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and outlines items that only the National Assembly can legislate. On the other hand, the Concurrent legislative list in Part 2 of the same Schedule contains items that both the Federal and State governments can make laws on as prescribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigeria practices a federal system of government meaning that\ngovernmental powers are to be shared between the Federal Government and its\ncomponent units, that is, the States. There have been strong public demands for\ntrue Federalism and restructuring of Nigeria via amendment of the Constitution\nto devolve more power to the States. This is to ensure a subnational government\nthat is closer and more responsive to citizens, and also to foster the economic\ngrowth of individual States so that they can be independent of the centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifth\nAlteration (No.31) Act deletes item 48,\n\u201cPrisons\u201d from the Exclusive list by inserting a new paragraph 10A after the\nexisting paragraph 10 titled \u201cCorrectional Services\u201d in the Concurrent list. It\nempowers the National Assembly (NASS) and State Assemblies to make laws\nestablishing correctional services and custodial facilities, as well as\nauthorities to manage them. For the National Assembly, this can be in any part\nof the Federation while for the States, it must be within the State in\nquestion. This is expected to help relieve the problems of inadequate federal\nfunding and congestion of correctional centres and facilitate reform of\nNigeria\u2019s reformatory institutions with the help of the States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifth\nAlteration (No.32) Act deletes item 55\n\u201cRailways\u201d in the Exclusive list and inserts a new paragraph 20A in the\nConcurrent List titles \u201cRailways.\u201d It empowers the National Assembly to make\nlaws for the construction and maintenance of inter-state railway tracks and\ninfrastructure; establishment of a national railway agency for the regulation\nof railway operations throughout the Federation; and establishment and\nmaintenance of a national railway carrier for inter-state transportation\nthroughout the Federation. The State House of Assembly on the other hand is\nempowered to legislate on the establishment, operation and maintenance of a\nState railway carrier within the State including the construction and\nmaintenance of railway tracks and infrastructures within the State. The\nimplication of this provision is that States can invest in railway\ninfrastructure by building their own tracks and developing intra-state railway\nservices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifth\nAlteration (No.33) Act amends paragraph\n14 (b), Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution dealing with\nElectric Power by deleting the wordings in this section that restricts State\nAssemblies to making laws on generation, transmission and distribution of\nelectricity to areas not covered<\/strong>\nby a national grid system within their State. By so doing, it expands their\nlegislative powers to make laws on the generation, transmission and\ndistribution of electricity to include areas within their State \u201ccovered\u201d by\nthe national grid. It should be noted that the Federal\nGovernment\u2019s powers to legislate on generation and transmission of electricity\nin any part of the country and manage the national grid system remains, and\nthat each State would have to make or amend its state electricity law to operationalise\nthis amendment. The Federal Government also retains its own regulatory powers\nwhich it exercises through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission\n(NERC) established under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 (EPSRA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n These Constitution Alteration Acts are however unlikely to assuage\nadvocates for Nigeria\u2019s restructuring and power devolution. With the tenure of\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari, a hard-line opponent of restructuring, coming to an\nend in a matter of weeks, it becomes inevitable that the voices for\nrestructuring, devolution of powers will once again roar back into public\ndiscuss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n