Acts Authentication Act 1961
2019-01-16
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Nigerian Federal Laws)
By Leesi Ebenezer Mitee
15 January 2019
Nigerian federal laws, known as Acts, form the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN). Revised editions of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria are compiled and published by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice. Legislation made by the thirty-six States of Nigeria are called Laws, while Local Governments make Bylaws.
Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution makes provision for the legislative powers of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Subsections (1) and (2) of which state:
“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.”
The two recent revised editions of the LFN were made in 1990 and 2004. That of 1990 was pursuant to the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) Act 1990. That of 2004 was inadvertently made without any enabling legislation, which necessitated the enactment of the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) Act 2007 that President Olusegun Obasanjo assented to on 25 May 2007.
It is unfortunate that it took such a long period of 14 years (1990 – 2004) to produce a revised edition of Nigerian federal laws. Further, it is now about 14 years since the laws were revised in 2004. Nigeria’s official practice of revising federal and state laws once in 10 years is retrogressive and unacceptable in today’s legal world where breathtaking breakthroughs in information and communications technology (ICT) has revolutionised the revision and publishing of legislation worldwide. It is speculated that the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC) is planning to complete what would become the latest revised edition of Nigeria’s federal laws.
There are available technologies now for the automatic revision and consolidation of legislation that ensure that laws are up-to-date, which is an indispensable requirement for adequate access to public legal information. Undeniably the right of free access to public legal information is a human right, as I have advocated.
The federal legislation (or national laws) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is enacted by the National Assembly. The National Assembly comprises the Senate (upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (lower chamber), as provided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigerian Constitution).
The Nigerian Lawyers Directory publishes information on Nigerian federal legislation as part of its objective of providing free access to Nigerian legal information (Nigerian law) for professionals and the Nigerian Citizen Legal Education Programme (CLEP) of the Nigerian Legal Research and Legal Education Support Initiative (NLRESI).
Project
This Laws of the Federation of Nigeria Project of the Nigerian Lawyers Directory started today, 15 January 2019, and we hope to complete its first phase as soon as possible. It is part of the commitment of the Nigerian Lawyers Directory to the provision of free access to Nigerian legal information, as stated above.
By Leesi Ebenezer Mitee
Pioneer advocate for the universal recognition of the right of free access to public legal information as a human right; Expert in the provision of online access to public legal information
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