LEGISLATIVE POWER OVER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN A FEDERATION: NIGERIAN AND AMERICAN EXAMPLES

Abstract

Local governments are the smallest unit of government in a federation. In Nigerian federation Local government is provided in the Federal Constitution with assigned functions and its existence as a third tier government constitutionally guaranteed. In United States of America (U.S.A) Local Governments are classified as residual matters without a mention in the Federal Constitution. In the assignment of legislative powers in the Constitutions of U.S.A and Nigeria local governments do not have a place in terms of the various legislative fields or items namely – Exclusive, Concurrent or Residual Legislative Fields as a third tier government. In essence, in absence of assignment of legislative powers by the federal Constitutions both the federal and state may seem to exercise some form of legislative control over local governments. It is the province of this paper in comparative terms to examine the legislative power over local governments by the federal and state governments in a federal arrangement using Nigerian and American (U.S.A) federations as examples. It is discovered that local governments in U.S.A exercise delegated powers from state Constitution in somewhat a unitary arrangement. However independent legislative status can be achieved by local governments via Home Rule Provisions. As well by is provision of Mandates, such presumable local government independence under Home Rule Provisions can still come under the legislative power of the State governments.