Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999

21 May, 2020 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 2 Comments 0

Preamble to the Constitution Section 1 – Supremacy of constitution Section 2 – The Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 3 – States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Section 4 – Legislative powers Section 5 – Executive powers Section 6 – Judicial powers Section 7 – Local government system Section 8 – New states and boundary adjustment, etc. Section 9 – Mode of altering provisions of the constitution Section 10 – Prohibition of State Religion Section 11 – Public order and public security Section 12 – Implementation of treaties Section 13-24 – Chapter II [Fundamental Objectives and directive Principles of State Policy] Section 25-32 – Chapter III [Citizenship] Section 33 – Right to life Section 34 – Right to dignity of human persons Section 35 – Right to personal liberty Section 36 – Right to fair hearing Section 37 – Right to private and family life Section 38 – Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion Section 39 – Right to freedom of expression and the press Section 40 – Right to peaceful assembly and association Section 41 – Right to freedom of movement Section 42 – Right to freedom from discrimination Section 43 – Right to acquire and own immovable property Section 44 – Compulsory acquisition of property Section 45 – Restriction on and derogation from fundamental human rights Section 46 – Special jurisdiction of High Court and Legal aid Section 47-51 [Part I – National Assembly (A – Composition and Staff of National Assembly)] Section 52-64 (B – Procedure for Summoning and Dissolution of National Assembly) Section 65-70 (C – Qualifications for Membership of National Assembly and Right of Attendance) Section 71-79 (D – Elections to National Assembly) Section 80-89 (E – Powers and Control over Public Funds) Section 90-93 [Part II – House of Assembly of a State (A – Composition and Staff of House of Assembly)] Section 94-105 (B – Procedure for Summoning and Dissolution of House of Assembly) Section 106-111 (C – Qualification for Membership of House of Assembly and Right of Attendance) Section 112-119 (D – Elections to a House of Assembly) Section 120-129 (E – Powers and control over Public Funds) Section 130-152 [Part I – Federal Executive (A – The President of the Federation)] Section 153-161 (B – Establishment of Certain Federal Executive Bodies) Section 162-168 (C – Public Revenue) Section 169-175 (D – The Public Service of the Federation) Section 176-196 [Part II – State Executive (A – The Governor of a State)] Section 197-205 (B – Establishment of Certain State Executive Bodies) Section 206-212 (C – The Public Service of State) Section 213 [Part III – Supplemental (A – National Population Census)] Section 214-216 (B – Nigeria Police Force) Section 217-220 (C – Armed Forces of the Federation) Section 221-229 (D – Political Parties) Section 230-236 [Part I – Federal Courts (A – The Supreme Court of Nigeria)] Section 237-248 (B – The Court of Appeal) Section 249-254 (C – The Federal High Court) Section 255-259 (D – The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 260-264 (E – The Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 265-269 (F – The Customary Court of appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 270-274 [Part II – State Courts (A – High Court of a State)] Section 275-279 (B – Sharia Court of Appeal of a State) Section 280-284 (C – Customary Court of Appeal of a State) Section 285 [Part III – Election Tribunals] Section 286-296 [Part IV – Supplemental] Section 297-304 [Part I – Federal Capital Territory, Abuja] Section 305-308 [Part II – Miscellaneous Provisions] Section 309-317 [Part III – Transitional Provisions and Savings] Section 318-320 [Part IV – Interpretation, Citation and Commencement] First Schedule Second Schedule Third Schedule Fourth Schedule Fifth Schedule Sixth Schedule Seventh Schedule

Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999

Section 4 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 speaks about Legislative Powers of the Country, as vested in a National Assembly for the federation. Section 4 is under Part II (Powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) of Chapter 1 (General Provisions) of the constitution.

4. (1) The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

(2) 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 Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.

(3) The power of the National Assembly to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List shall, save as otherwise provided in this Constitution, be to the exclusion of the Houses of Assembly of States.

(4) In addition and without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsection (2) of this section, the National Assembly shall have power to make laws with respect to the following matters, that is to say:-

(a) any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second column opposite thereto; and

(b) any other matter with respect to which it is empowered to make laws in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

(5) If any Law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other Law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.

(6) The legislative powers of a State of the Federation shall be vested in the House of Assembly of the State.

(7) The House of Assembly of a State shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof with respect to the following matters, that is to say:-

(a) any matter not included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of
the Second Schedule to this Constitution.

(b) any matter included in the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second column opposite thereto; and

(c) any other matter with respect to which it is empowered to make laws in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

(8) Save as otherwise provided by this Constitution, the exercise of legislative powers by the National Assembly or by a House of Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of courts of law and of judicial tribunals established by law, and accordingly, the National Assembly or a House of Assembly shall not enact any law, that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law.

(9) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the National Assembly or a House of Assembly shall not, in relation to any criminal offence whatsoever, have power to make any law which shall have retrospective effect.

Credits:

https://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Nigeria_Constitution_1999_en.pdf

https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ng/ng014en.pdf