What is division of power???
In a federal system of government, powers and functions are shared between the central and state governments according to the constitution.
The sharing is done under the following headings:
- Exclusive powers (by the central government): There are certain areas of the powers reserved exclusively for the central government. This means only the central government can legislate on such areas .State governments cannot interfere on such matters. Such matters include,defence, foreign affairs, currency, extradition, issuing of passports, immigration and emigration, international trades, census, police, etc. Laws on these items are made by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
- Concurrent Powers (by both central and state government) :These are areas of powers shared jointly by both the central and state governments. Both government can make laws on matters under concurrent powers, subject matters under concurrent powers include: health, education, agriculture, housing, roads, etc.
- Residual powers :These are the powers not include in either the exclusive or the concurrent power lists. Residual powers are exercised by the component governments. Such matters in the residual power lists include: chieftaincy, markets, local governments and related matters.
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