President Buhari Should Avoid Tension, There Is No Federal Grazing Law says Senator Ajibola Basiru.

“I have painstakingly looked at the laws of the Federation of Nigeria and I did not see a copy of any law that is called Federal Grazing Law, or Grazing Act, or any other title relating to the issue. However, I am aware that there is a northern Nigerian law on reserve and grazing routes, which was promulgated by a 1964 decree by the Premier of the defunct Northern Nigeria Region”.

“There have been informed legal opinions on this issue. So, there is no federal law regarding grazing routes. Even by the allocation of power under the Nigerian legislation, the National Assembly and by virtue of that, the President does not have powers to do anything about grazing routes. This is because the management of land in the entire territory of a state, by Section 1 of the Land Use Act, is vested in the governor.

Matters of land use and management are the exclusive preserve of the state governor. The President has absolutely no powers to act on it. With respect to the office of Mr President, I believe that he has not been properly advised by his legal team. He should query the quality of their legal advice by probing further so that they don’t generate unnecessary tension that can be avoided”.