Senate strips FG sole power over railway, prisons, power generation

The Senate on Tuesday moved prisons, railways and power generation from the Exclusive to Concurrent list.
This has stripped the Federal Government the sole power over prisons system, railway and electricity generation
This is even as attempt to include Value Added Tax on the Exclusive Legislative List failed to scale through.

The Bill on the prison was to “delete prisons in the Exclusive Legislative List and redesignate it as Correctional Service in the Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.”
The Bill on the Railway was “to move railway from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List; and for Related Matters.”
The Bill on power generation was “to allow States Generate, Transmit and Distribute Electricity in areas covered by the National Grid; and for Related Matters.”
Meanwhile, in spite of the lobby by the wife of Mr President, Aisha Buhari, the Senate failed to provide for special seats for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly.

The chamber also passed a bill to empower the National Assembly and State Assemblies to summon the President and Governors to answer questions bothering on security or any other issues on which the National and State Houses of Assembly have powers to make laws. 
 
The bill seeks alteration to Section 67 of the Principal Act by inserting after subsection (3), a new subsection (4).
 
The new subsection (4) provides: “Nothing in this section shall preclude the National Assembly from summoning the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend a joint session of the National Assembly to answer questions on national security or any issue whatsoever, over which the National Assembly has powers to make laws.”
 
The bill further seeks to alter Section 108 of the Principal Act to insert a new subsection (4) to provide: “Nothing in this section shall preclude the House of Assembly of the State from summoning the Governor of the State to attend a sitting of the House of Assembly to answer questions on securoty or on any issue whatsoever, over which the House of Assembly has powers to male laws.”
 
Out of 93 registered Senators, 77 voted in favour of the bill to summon the President and Governors, 13 against and 1 lawmaker abstained, bringing total votes to 91.
 
The chamber also approved a bill to include Presiding Officers on the membership of the National Security Council. 
 
It also passed a bill to make it an offence, and to provide for the possible conviction of any person who refuses to honour the summons of the National Assembly or any of its committee. 
 
The bill seeks to alter Section 129 of the Principal Act to insert after subsection (2), a new subsection (3).
 
The new section provides: “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, any person who after having been summoned to attend, fails, refuses or neglects to do so and does not excuse such failure, refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the House or the Committee in question, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to such punishment as shall be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.