Nwangwu v. Ukachukwu & Anor (2000) LPELR-6913(CA), where the Court of Appeal gave effect to the notion when it stated, “Any state legislation which seeks to confer jurisdiction on the State High Court as does the Anambra State High Court Law would be in conflict with the provision of S.41 of the Land Use Act. The legislation rather than give effect to S.41 of the Act, would extend the section. By the doctrine of covering the field, S.41 of the Land Use Act will be made to prevail over the provision of such a state legislation.”
WHERE THE CONSTITUTION HAS COVERED THE FIELD
Olayinka Ayoola, JSC, in the case of INEC v. Balarabe Musa (2003) 3 NWLR (Pt.806) 72, stated: “Where the Constitution has covered the field as to the law governing any conduct, the provision of the Constitution is the authoritative statement of the law on the subject. The Constitution would not have ‘covered the field’ where it had expressly reserved to the National Assembly or any other legislative body the power to expand on or add to its provisions in regard to the particular subject. Where the Constitution has provided exhaustively for any situation and on any subject, a legislative authority that claims to legislate in addition to what the Constitution had enacted must show that, and how, it has derived its legislative authority to do so from the Constitution itself. In this case, section 222 of the Constitution having set out the conditions upon which an association can function as a political party, the National Assembly could not validly by legislation alter those conditions by addition or subtraction and could not by legislation authorise INEC to do so, unless the Constitution itself has so permitted.”