THE House of Representatives is working towards stripping the Federal Government of its exclusive powers on issues of arms, ammunition, explosives, award of national honour, decorations and other dignities.
Also targeted are issues of defence, diplomatic, consular and trade representation, as well as the fixing of public holidays, budget, prisons, customs and excise duties, among others.
A major implication of the constitutional move is a major restructuring of the current revenue formula, which gives a majority 52% to the central government.
The master-stroke to achieving this major constitutional shift, according to the speaker of the House, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, was the ongoing efforts by the legislators to move all the items currently on the exclusive list, as contained in the second schedule of the 1999 Constitution, to the concurrent list, with the ultimate target being the residual list.
While items under the exclusive list are under the sole purview of the Federal Government, powers on concurrent items are shared by the central and state governments, while residual power belongs to both states and local government councils.
Tambuwal, who was represented by Honourable Adekunle Adeyemi, spoke in Lagos at the 11th year anniversary and annual lecture of Crusade for Justice, held at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja.
The lecture, with the theme “Oil and gas, human rights and the Nigerian State: an Overview,” was held in honour of Honourable Tambuwal and Justice Ngozi Osadebay-Azinge.
“On this issue of the ongoing review of the constitution, we are working to ensure that all items on the exclusive list are pushed to the concurrent list and, if possible, to the residual list,” Honourable Adeyemi said.
Dr Yemi Oke of the Post Graduate School, University of Lagos, in his presentation, noted that the controversies generated by the 10 per cent share proposed to the resource-bearing communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) further revealed a lack of congruent framework to ensure fairness in the distribution of gains derived from the exploitation of oil and gas and other natural resources in the country.
He said the violation of human and environmental rights may continually pitch the oil producing communities against operators, especially the multinational corporations, unless there was a clear departure from the existing political order.
Tambuwal, also on Wednesday, called for urgent action aimed towards repeal and re-enactment of all colonial and archaic laws still operational in the country.
According to him, such move would ensure that the laws suited the present need and aspirations of Nigerians.