National Assembly to Strip FG of Many Powers, Remove Railways from Exclusive List

National Assembly to Strip FG of Many Powers, Remove Railways from Exclusive List

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu on Saturday revealed that the National Assembly was all set to strip the federal government of many of the powers vested in it in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

Ekweremadu made this disclosure while speaking at the close of the annual joint retreat of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

The deputy senate president listed some of the changes agreed upon at the retreat to include the removal of railways from the exclusive list and placing same in the concurrent list to allow states with the means to provide rail services.

“One of the components of restructuring is that they are saying that there is too much power in the hands of the federal government and we need to strip some of them from the federal government,” Ekweremadu said.

“What we have done is to look at the issue. Some items will be removed from the exclusive list to the concurrent list where the federal and the states can make laws regarding some of those items.

“And where there is a conflict, the laws of the National Assembly will prevail,” he said.

Ekweremadu stated that lawmakers at the retreat distilled all the issues into about 23 separate bills with distinct issues to ensure that each bill can be assessed on its own at the point of voting and not unnecessarily hold down others over which there may be no contentions.

“We will collate and ensure that the provisions of the constitution have been fulfilled regarding the alteration, and we will send it to the president for his assent. And the president will decide which one to assent to or not to assent to.

“The implication therefore is that if he assents to some, then those one become part of the constitution. And the one he refuses to assent to, then we might decide whether to override the veto,” Ekweremadu said.

The Nation reports that the constitutional amendment committee at the retreat agreed to retain provisions on minimum wage for public and private sectors but could not immediately decide on whether or not to scrap joint local government/state accounts as it could have an effect on the payment of salaries to primary school teachers. The committee therefore agreed to consult further before reaching a conclusion.