Article 317 — Succession to property, rights, liabilities and obligations

(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 315 of this Constitution, any property, right, privilege, liability or obligation which immediately before the date when this section comes into force was vested in, exercisable or enforceable by or against- (a) the former authority of the Federation as representative or trustee for the benefit of the Federation; (b) any former authority of a State as representative or trustee for the benefit of the State, shall on the date when this section comes into force and without further assurance than the provisions hereof vest in, or become exercisable or enforceable by or against the President and Government of the Federation, and the Governor and Government of the State, as the case may be. (2) For the purposes of this section – (a) the President and Government of the Federation, and the Governor and Government of a State, shall be deemed, respectively, to be successors to the said former authority of the Federation and former authority of the State in question; and [Section 316(5) is inserted by the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration Act) 2010] The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Updated with the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Alterations(b) references in this section to “ former authority of the Federation ” and “ former authority of a State ” include references to the former Government of the Federation and the former Government of a State, a local government authority or any person who exercised any authority on its behalf.