Babatunde Raji Fashola, who was both the governor of Lagos State and the minister of works immediately afterward, emphasised the need of delegating authority to the various tiers of Nigerian government. He stressed that the Senate, being a branch of the federal government, lacks the authority to pass laws on specific issues that are better handled by the individual states.
According to Fashola, the National Assembly and state councils at the federal level are just two of the many tiers of Nigeria's legislative structure. The exclusive and concurrent legislative lists define the distinct functions and obligations of each level. The idea of residual authority, which he brought up as well, is that the states hold certain powers that are not explicitly granted to them by federal law.
Within this framework, Fashola emphasised that the federal government does not have jurisdiction over issues pertaining to rent control or legislation governing landlords and tenants.
Fashola reportedly told The Sun, "Let me explain why we are a federal state. Every level of government has its own legislative body, from city councils to the Senate and the House of Representatives. A multi-tiered system of justice is in place here. As you can see from the exclusive and concurrent lists, several branches of government carry out various functions; yet, the residual authority that rests with the individual states is absent from both of these lists. When it comes to rent control and other landlord-tenant issues, for instance, the Senate simply cannot legislate.