The Supreme Court of Nigeria has delivered a landmark judgment, nullifying Sections 12 and 13 of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Act for being inconsistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered). This decision limits the federal government’s powers, specifically restraining it from dealing with lands adjoining waterways for non-navigational purposes within the territories of Lagos State and other states across the federation.

The judgment was delivered in Suit No. SC/CV/541/2025, brought by Lagos State against the Federal Government. Lagos State, joined by other states including Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Cross River, Kaduna, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Benue, Rivers, Osun, Oyo, and Anambra, challenged the constitutional validity of several provisions of the NIWA Act. The plaintiff argued that Sections 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the Act exceeded the legislative competence of the National Assembly under the Constitution, particularly Sections 4 and 315, the Land Use Act, and Items 36 and 64 of the Exclusive Legislative List in the Second Schedule.

Representing Lagos State were Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) including Babatunde Raji Fashola, Olasupo Shasore, and Muiz Banire, while Akin Olujimi SAN represented the Federal Government. The apex court, comprising a seven-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, with Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar reading the lead judgment, first dismissed preliminary objections challenging its jurisdiction and a plea of res judicata from an earlier dispute (NIWA v. LSWA).

In its substantive findings, the Supreme Court held that Sections 12 and 13 of the NIWA Act purported to confer powers over lands adjoining waterways that extended beyond matters relating to navigation, maritime activities, and fishing. The court ruled that the National Assembly acted ultra vires by attempting to regulate adjoining lands for purposes outside its constitutional powers, thereby declaring these sections unconstitutional to the extent of their inconsistency with the Constitution.

Consequently, the court issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Republic of Nigeria from dealing in any manner whatsoever with the right of way of waterways within the territory of Lagos State or any other state for non-navigational purposes. This reaffirms state governments’ constitutional authority over adjoining lands used for non-navigational purposes, restricting the federal government and NIWA from exercising sweeping control over such areas.

However, the Supreme Court declined to declare Sections 10 and 11 of the NIWA Act unconstitutional. It upheld its earlier decision in NIWA v. LSWA, affirming that the federal government retains legislative competence over matters relating to navigation, maritime activities, fishing, and the declaration of international waterways. The court also refused Lagos State’s requests for declarations that the National Assembly lacked legislative competence over waterways not specifically designated as international or inter-state waterways, maintaining that the federal government's authority over inland waterways does not require express declarations by the National Assembly for certain categories.

The judgment saw a 5-2 split among the justices regarding some reliefs and the interpretation of Sections 10 and 11. Justices Emmanuel Akomaye Agim and Mohammed Baba Idris dissented on certain aspects, believing that Lagos State ought to have been granted additional reliefs relating to federal control over waterways. Despite these dissents, the court declined to invalidate the entire NIWA Act.

This landmark decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for waterfront development, land reclamation, urban planning, environmental regulation, and revenue generation in Lagos and other coastal states. By drawing a clear constitutional boundary between federal legislative competence over navigation and state territorial control over adjoining lands, the judgment reinforces the relevance of the Land Use Act and the constitutional recognition of state territories under Section 3 and the First Schedule to the Constitution. It is anticipated to shape future constitutional litigation on waterways, land administration, federalism, and resource control across Nigeria.