The Constitution of Nigeria is the written supreme law of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of ...

. Nigeria has had many constitutions. Its current form was enacted on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated the

Fourth Nigerian Republic The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...

History

Nigeria's structure and composition are a legacy of British colonial rule. It has over 374

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

groups with different cultures and traditions. This diversity contributes to Nigeria being "one of the world's most deeply divided countries" with rampant political corruption. As a result, Nigeria has undergone many attempts to form an effective constitution. These efforts include

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

and military rule, centrifugal and centralized

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments ( provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single ...

, presidential and

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

systems, and other political institutions. An

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

enacted Nigeria's first constitutions during the colonial era when the country was administered as a

Crown Colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

. These constitutions include the Clifford Constitution of 1922, the Richards Constitution of 1946, the Macpherson Constitution of 1951, and the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954.

Richards constitution

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

approved a new constitution for n Nigeria in 1946. It was called the Richards Constitution after Governor-General Sir Arthur Richards, who was responsible for its formulation. Although it left effective power in the hands of the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

and his appointed Executive Council, it also established an expanded Legislative Council empowered to deliberate on matters affecting the country. It also created three regional Houses of Assembly to consider local questions and advise the lieutenant governors. The Richards Constitution recognized the country's diversity by introducing the federal principle with its regional authority. Although realistic in its assessment of the situation in Nigeria, the Richards Constitution intensified regionalism instead of encouraging political unification. It was suspended in 1950 against a call for greater autonomy.

Macpherson constitution

An inter-parliamentary conference at

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its ...

in 1950 drafted a new constitution. It was dubbed the Macpherson Constitution after the incumbent Governor-General

John Stuart Macpherson Sir John Stuart Macpherson, GCMG (25 August 1898 – 5 November 1971) was a British colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of Nigeria from 1948 to 1955. Early life Born in Edinburgh, the son of a hotel manager, Macpherso ...

. It went into effect the following year, in 1951. The Macpherson Constitution provided for regional autonomy and federal union, creating a central government with a Council of Ministers. This encouraged political participation and party activity at the national level. However, the regional governments had broad legislative powers that could not be overridden by the newly established 185-seat federal House of Representatives. As a result, the Macpherson Constitution significantly boosted regionalism.

Lyttleton constitution

The next revision of the constitution was called the Lyttleton Constitution after

Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos, (15 March 1893 – 21 January 1972) was a British businessman from the Lyttelton family who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts. Background, e ...

. It was enacted in 1954 and firmly established the federal principle. This paved the way for Nigeria's independence from Great Britain.

1960 independence constitution

A British Order-in-Council enacted Nigeria's first constitution as a sovereign state. It came into force upon the country's independence on 1 October 1960. Under this constitution, Nigeria retained

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

as titular head of state,

Queen of Nigeria Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mo ...

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the n ...

represented the queen as Governor-General.

1963 constitution

Independent Nigeria's second constitution abolished the monarchy and established the

First Nigerian Republic The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system. The period between 1 October 196 ...

. It came into force on 1 October 1963, the third anniversary of Nigeria's independence.

became the first

President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigeri ...

. The 1963 constitution was based on the Westminster system. It was used until a military coup in 1966 that overthrew Nigeria's democratic institutions.

1979 constitution

The 1979 constitution established the Second Nigerian Republic. It abandoned the Westminster system in favour of a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

-style

presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separatio ...

with direct elections. To avoid the pitfalls of the First Nigerian Republic, the 1979 constitution mandated political parties which were required to register in at least two-thirds of the states. In addition, it established a

Cabinet of Nigeria The Federal Executive Council (FEC) is the cabinet of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is part of the executive branch of the Government of Nigeria. The council's role, as written in the Ministers' Statutory Powers and Duties Act, is to serve ...

, with each state having at least one member. This gave a "federal character" to the nation.

1993 constitution

The 1993 constitution established the

Third Nigerian Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamas ...

. This constitution was supposed to return democratic rule to Nigeria but was never fully implemented. The military controlled the country until 1999.

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

The 1999 constitution created the

, a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

with democratic rule. It remains in force today. The 1999 constitution identifies the national capital, 36 states and their capitals, and 774

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phra ...

within Nigeria. It establishes the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government and details their duties and the separation of powers between the branches and federal and state governments. Nigeria's legislative powers are vested in a National Assembly with two chambers: a

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and a House of Representatives.Nigeria Const. § 4(1). The constitution gives the National Assembly the power to make laws for " peace, order and good government of the Federation". In addition, the constitution outlines the individual's fundamental rights, including life, liberty, dignity, privacy, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and security from slavery, violence, discrimination, and forced service in the military. It also defines a person's right to a timely and fair trial if arrested and the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must presen ...

. Nigerians also have the right to own land, a

right of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...

, and

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights ...

. The constitution also protects four laws: the Land Use Act, the National Securities Agencies Act, the National Youth Service legislation, and the Public Complaints Commission Act. In January 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan signed two amendments to the constitution, the first modifications since it came into use in 1999.

References

External links

{{Constitutions of Africa

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Constitution of Nigeria Law of Nigeria 1999 in Nigeria