ABUJA—THE Federal Government, last Friday, approached the Supreme Court afresh, begging it to void a telecommunication legislation recently enacted by the Lagos State government on the account that the law offended sundry federal legislations including company tax act and capable of creating monumental confusion in the telecommunication industry.
The legislation being challenged was passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly on March 31, 2004 with assent of the State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu given on July 2, this year.
According to the Federal Government, no state of the Federation had the power and legislative competence to impose taxes, fines, levies or fees as contemplated in the Lagos State telecom law 2004, adding that if the law was allowed implementation, it would bring about loss of revenue to it.
Besides, the Federal Government contended that the legislation by the Lagos government amounted to usurpation of the function of the National Assembly which has the exclusive legislative powers to make laws on regulation of operation of telecommunication operators throughout Nigeria .
The fresh lawsuit was lodged at the registry of the apex court by Mr Yusuf Ali (SAN), hours after the Supreme Court struck out a similar action by the Federal Government seeking to stop Lagos State government from enacting any law on regulation of telecommunication operations in the state.
The Justices of the Supreme Court who sat on the earlier case, it would be recalled, had told the Federal Government that its action, as constituted, was premature and defective as there was nothing to challenge at the time it came to court.
The court had said that the Federal Government ought to have waited for the legislation to be enacted first by the state government before coming to court to challenge it.
“As far as we are concerned, you have only jumped the gun,” one of the justices of the court had said, adding, “the only talking point that the constitution recognizes is legislation. But deliberations at the House of Assembly are not recognized. They cannot be challenged in court. They can even say defamatory things in their chambers, the law does not allow interfering with their deliberations. Not even the end result of their deliberations which is their resolutions.
“The only thing you can interfere with is when the law becomes operative. That is when they pass their bill into law and the executive governor assents to it. That is the time the legislation can be challenged,” to which other justices on the panel agreed with.
Upon the concession by Yusuf Ali (SAN) who represented the Federal Government in the matter that the action was defective, he withdrew the entire suit including the originating summons and the apex court struck it out accordingly.
But Mr Yusuf Ali (SAN), said there was no respite yet for Lagos government over the law as he said that he would invoke the judicial powers of the court again.
In the fresh suit which Mr Ali (SAN) just lodged before the court, the Federal Government wanted the court to void the entire legislation recently enacted by the Lagos government.
The Federal Government had specifically contended in a 19-point affidavit accompanying its writ of summons that it had combed through all existing legislations in the country and could not see any that empowered any state including Lagos to make legislation on telecom operations..
According to the affidavit, given the functions assigned the agency established by Lagos government for the purpose of regulating the telecom industry in the state, it was saddled with the responsibility of imposing taxes, fines, levies or fees separate from what might be imposed by the Nigeria Communications Commission which has the statutory powers to regulate telecom operations in the country.
“And if the law, the subject-matter of this suit, is allowed to be implemented, other states will copy it and a lot of confusion will result in the telecommunication industry with attendant loss of revenue to the Federal Government and disinvestments in the sector by the investor,” the affidavit said.
Besides, “the payment of taxes, levies and other dues under the law being challenged will amount to double taxation on the telecommunications operators contrary to the company tax act and other federal legislations.”
The affidavit further added, whereas, the powers to legislate on all aspects of the operation of telecom industry in the country reside with the Nigeria Communications Commissions by virtue of the Nigerian Communications A The Federal Government consequently formulated eight fundamental cum constitutional questions for the Supreme Court to determine, all bordering on who has the legal powers to legislate on all aspects of telecom operation in the country .
