Section 17: General powers of the Corporation

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Corporation shall have power-
(a) to carry goods and passengers by rail, road and water within Nigeria;
(b) to store goods within Nigeria, whether or not those goods have been or are to be carried by the Corporation;
(c) to consign goods on behalf of other persons from any place within Nigeria, to any other place, whether within Nigeria, or elsewhere;
(d) to provide within Nigeria, both for passengers carried by the Corporation and for other persons, hotels, hostels, other living accommodation and places of refreshment;
(e) to provide within Nigeria, such other amenities and facilities for passengers, carried by the Corporation and other persons, using the services performed or the facilities provided by the Corporation as it may appear to the Corporation requisite or expedient to provide;
(f) subject to the consent of the President, in any territory adjacent to Nigeria, to perform any services or provide any facilities which the Corporation may properly perform or provide within Nigeria.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the powers conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall include all such powers as are necessary or advantageous and proper for the purposes of the Corporation and, in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, shall include power-
(a) to acquire, construct, manufacture, maintain or repair anything required for the purposes of the Corporation, including any new railway;
(b) to carry on any business necessary or desirable to be carried on, for the purposes of the Corporation;
(c) to take, subject to any restrictions, prohibitions or conditions that may be prescribed, such water, as the Corporation may reasonably require from any natural resources, and to acquire, construct, manufacture, maintain or repair waterworks or any other works, plant or apparatus, necessary or desirable for the supply or transmission of water, and to supply any such water to any person;
(d) to acquire, construct, manufacture, maintain and repair plant for generating electrical energy and any other works, plant or apparatus necessary or desirable for the generation, transmission and supply of electrical energy, for the purposes of the Corporation, and, subject to the approval of the Minister, to sell any such energy, which may be surplus to its own requirements;
(e) to prohibit, control or regulate-
(i) the use by any person, of the services performed or the facilities provided by the Corporation; or
(ii) the presence of any person, vehicle, goods or thing whatsoever, on any premises occupied by the Corporation;
(f) to sell, let or otherwise dispose of any property of the Corporation, movable or immovable, which in the opinion of the Corporation is not necessary, for the purposes of the Corporation;
(g)
to enter into agreements with any person-
(i) for the supply, construction, manufacture, maintenance or repair by that person of any property, movable or immovable, which is necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the Corporation;
(ii) for the performance or the provision by that person of any of the services or facilities which may be performed or provided by the Corporation;
(iii) for the payment, collection or apportionment of any rates, fares or other charges arising out of the performance or the provisions by that person of any such service or facilities, and for such purposes, to finance or assist in financing the activities of that person, whether by way of loan, the holding of stocks, shares or securities, the guaranteeing of interest or dividends on any stocks, shares or securities, or otherwise;
(h) to act as agent, whether in Nigeria or elsewhere, for any person engaged, whether in Nigeria or elsewhere, in the performance of services or the provision of facilities of a kind, similar or complementary to those performed or provided by the Corporation;
(i) to enter into and carry out agreements with any person carrying on business as a carrier of passengers or goods, whether within Nigeria or elsewhere, providing for the carriage of passengers or goods by or on behalf of the Corporation and of that person under one contract or at a thorough charge;
(j) to provide houses, hostels and other like accommodation, for persons employed by the Corporation;
(k) to sell food and drinks, including alcoholic beverages, on railway premises and on carriages set apart for the purpose at such times and on such conditions, as the Corporation may deem fit;
(l) to do anything for the purpose of advancing the skill of persons employed by the Corporation or of the efficiency of the equipment of the Corporation or of the manner in which that equipment is operated, including the provision of facilities for training, education and research;
(m) to give loans to any person employed by the Corporation-
(i) for the purpose of building a house, purchase land on which to build a house, or purchasing a house, for the use of such person or for residential use by his family; or
(ii) for any other purpose specifically approved by the Corporation as being likely to increase the effectiveness of such persons in their services to the Corporation, or otherwise, for the purposes of the functions of the Corporation;
(n) to make reasonable provision, by grants, loans or otherwise, for person employed by the Corporation;
(o) notwithstanding any prohibition or restriction imposed by any Act relating to telecommunications, but subject to any conditions, restrictions or other provisions that may be prescribed, including provisions as to the application to the Corporation of, or the exemption of the Corporation from any enactment, in any such Act, or the modification of any such enactment in its application to the Corporation, to establish, maintain and work a telecommunications service for the use of the Corporation and of the public, and to impose charges for the use thereof by the public;
(p) to do any other thing, or carry on or arrange for the carrying on of any business incidental or subsidiary to the principal activities of the Corporation which, in the opinion of the Corporation, is in the interest of the public or of the proper conduct of those activities.
(3) In relation to the exercise by the Corporation of the powers conferred by paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of this section, the Electricity Act shall have effect as if the Corporation were exempted from the provisions of section 3 thereof.
(4) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the preceding provisions of this section, relate only to the capacity of the Corporation as a statutory corporation, and nothing in the said provisions shall, except where otherwise provided therein, be construed as authorising the disregard by the Corporation of any enactment or rule of law.
(5) The provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting any power of the Corporation conferred by or under any subsequent provision of this Act.