1999 Constitution of The Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
Part II
Powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
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.
