Press Releases

Fashola Urges FG To Surrender All Unconstitutionally Appropriated Powers

Aug 27, 2008 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to as a matter of honour surrender all the powers that were unconstitutionally appropriated to it when the country was under military rule without the legislature to serve as check.

The Governor who spoke in Abuja while contributing as a panelist in a working session of the Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) under the topic ”Federalism and Public Sector Innovation in Nigeria: Prospects and Constraints” at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual Conference added that it is only when this is done that governments at various levels could be on the way to delivering services to the people.

Governor Fashola acknowledged the sterling leadership by President Umar Musa Yar’ Adua to work according to the rule of law. He therefore urged the Nigerian Bar to respond to this by considering the compilation of all such laws which encroach on the powers of the state and offend the constitution and present them before the National Assembly in form of a bill for amendment or repeal to bring them in conformity with the Nigerian constitution.

These are the first practical steps towards true federalism while the major issue on constitutional amendment is being considered, he said.

The Governor also said 68 items of matters under the Exclusive legislative list powers have been appropriated for the Federal Government by the military thus making every aspect of the life of Nigerians bear the imprimatur of the government at the centre.

He contended that the state Governments were the ordinary Governments of the people to deal with local matters, whereas the Federal Government was the agent of the Nation to deal with matters of common convenience.

Governor Fashola said it calls for pondering why Local government areas were elevated and listed in the constitution when indeed they are organs of development at the grassroots that should be concerned with ensuring that peculiar needs of the people at the local level are provided.

He identified the intention to interfere with control by Local Authorities or States or Provinces of the enormous social and cultural influence wielded by traditional rulers as one of the reasons for catapulting local governments from the local terrains to the national level.

In his words: “What business is it for the Federal Government to concern itself with the supplies of taps or boreholes for rural areas when there are more compelling issues of common national concern such as interest and lending rates which affect standard of life, Energy sources which affect jobs and productivity and security to be tackled by the government at the centre”.

According to the Governor, it was absolutely unnecessary for the constitution to have insisted that new local governments which the constitution stipulates can be created by states must be sent for listing before the National Assembly, when as a matter of fact and law they have already been created, because there would have been nothing to send to the National Assembly if they were not created.

Governor Fashola said the ideal situation should be that local governments already created by states houses of assembly , after fulfilling all conditions laid down by the constitution , becomes automatically recognizable in law without waiting for listing by the National Assembly.

He welcomed the suggestion made to the state to consider the possibility of approaching the court for an order of mandamus to compel the National Assembly to list the new local councils created by Lagos, adding that issues of whether such a request would amount to an intervention or interference would have to be determined.

He said not all public officials must be subjected to castigation by the people for inaction because going by some of the contradictions in the constitution some of such office holders are sometimes not sure of what kind of government they are running, unitary or federal, and this has affected service delivery of roads, health care, education, etc to the people.

Governor Fashola said development has been stunted at the local level because a one size fits all approach has been adopted for all the 774 local governments, who have different terrain; ethnic and cultural orientation; when indeed the peculiar situation of each council should have been a determinant of the kind of responsibility and policy to be assigned by each state to her different local governments.

He implored legal practitioners to resist the use of court injunctions to stop the development of communal projects such as public roads, markets, schools, etc. over ownership of land saying that overriding public interest should operate in such circumstances because when such injunctions are obtained service delivery suffers, investors confidence also diminishes.

He said many areas of conflict exist in the constitution which the present National Assembly needs to revisit in order to stimulate development citing a provision of the constitution which stipulates that the Federal Government has powers to enact laws in executive capacity to manage tourist traffic, wondering why such provision should be extended to registration of hotels by Federal agencies.

He listed other sources of the Federal Government’s non- observation of the principles of Federalism to include issues as the Lottery and Value Added Tax which have already been decided by the Supreme Court in various judgments.

He also said at the twilight of the last administration at the federal level a law was passed to vest in Federal Roads Safety Commission the power to issue driver’s licenses which have originally been under local jurisdictions without the law being brought to the public domain for discussion.

He said the provision of that law has delayed the operation of the various well equipped drivers institutes established by the State Government to train drivers and licence them in other to make Lagos roads safer.

The Governor said Lagos has started making moves on its part to effect a review of such laws which are not in conformity with the constitution such as the National Inland Water Ways which has been amended to allow the state manage its water ways.

Governor Fashola informed the audience that he just signed a financial close agreement with a concessionaire for the 49.4 Lekki- Epe Expressway which has been delayed for two years because the government at the centre had a policy reversal on toll gates.

He said Lagos is overdue for consideration for a special allocation because of its status as a former Federal Capital and the enormous responsibility it has to deal with in terms of management of huge infrastructure and large population.

Other speakers who contributed at the session include the Chairperson of the session, and Legal Adviser of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chief (Mrs) Sena Anthony, Deputy Governor of Yobe State , Alhaji Ibrahim Gemdam, Professor O. Oyewo, the Dean of Faculty of Law University of Lagos and Chief Joe Gadzama the chairman of SPIDEL.