President Muhammadu Buhari has signed 16 amended constitutions into law, making it possible for States to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid.
The amended bill also guaranteed the financial independence of the State Houses of Assembly and the Judiciaries.
Tolu Ogunlesi, the presidential media spokesperson made this known on Twitter on Friday.
According to Ogunlesi, the amendment also makes it possible for the Railways to be moved from the Exclusive Legislative list to the Concurrent list.
With Railways moving from Exclusive to Concurrent list, it means Rail is no longer an exclusive preserve of the Federal Govt/NASS. States will now be able to make laws regulating the establishment & operation of rail services within their territory. Inter-State Rail will remain FGN’s responsibility.
The Correctional Services is also moved from the Exclusive Legislative list to the Concurrent list. It means States now have the power to establish Correctional and Custodian facilities which the State Assemblies have the power to legislate on.
Also with the new amendment, the Constitution now mandates the President and Governors to submit the names of persons nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within sixty days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly.
Another part of the amended Constitution relates to the change of name of some Local Governments. In Ogun State, Egbado North, and Egbado South Local Government Areas are now to be known and addressed as Yewa North and Yewa South respectively.
In Ebonyi, Afikpo North and Afikpo South LGAs are now to be known as Afikpo and Edda LGAs respectively.
The Presidential media spokesperson further said that the Constitution amendment Bills originally passed by NASS included one for financial autonomy for local governments, replacing the controversial “State Joint Local Government Account” which a new “Local Govt Council Allocation Account” to be credited directly.
Now that the Bills have been assented to, and have become Acts of Parliament, the next step is for “gazetting” to happen – the process by which the assented Acts are published in the Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
