COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF STATES EXERCISE OF RESIDUAL LEGISLATIVE POWERS IN NIGERIAN, AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN FEDERATIONS

Abstract

Nigeria, United States of America and Australia in governmental structures are federations. By being federations powers are invariably shared between the central authority and the federating states in a manner that gives each entity areas of exclusive sphere and areas of intercourse in power divisions giving rise to the practice of Federalism. The American and Australian Federations were established through centripetal process while that of Nigeria was by centrifugal process. In this wise the federal government powers in U.S.A and Australia are delegated by the States which had a prior sovereign existence before federation under the tag ‘we the people’ and specified the Constitution leaving exclusively residual powers with the states as well as other vast authority upon which such powers not being denied them. In Nigerian power divisions, the Federal Government on one hand enjoys exclusive powers and concurrent powers with the States. while on the other hand States enjoy residual powers exclusively to ensure its continued existence and that of the local governments. Flowing from the forgoing this paper in comparative terms surveys the residual powers of states in Nigerian, American and Australian Federations that taint States therein as co-sovereign within a federal arrangement that is an indivisible and an indissoluble entity.