HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA
The Constitution is the highest law in Nigeria. There’s a certain history that resulted in the creation and these “rule-sets”, however, the current constitution was established only in 1999. It is the “successor” of the previous constitutions of 1960, 1963, 1979 and 1993.
The first constitution in Nigeria was made on 1 October 1960. That year Queen Elizabeth ll became the main person to have power over Nigeria. Nigeria’s second constitution set up the nation as a Federal Republic. It had been in use since October 1963 (Nigeria’s third year as a free country). The constitution, which acquired the name‘Second Republic’, was established in 1979. It surrendered the Westminster framework for a certain presidential one that is similar to the Americanstyle. It reflects the formation of political parties in different states in Nigeria; these parties had to be registered. This makes it very much like the American system of government. The constitution in 1993 was adopted in Nigeria due to the recognition of a Third Republic.
The 1999 constitution was adopted after the 1993 constitution and started the Fourth Republic of Nigeria.it highlights and emphasizes different important areas of Nigeria laws and policies, talks about citizenship, the executive head, law systems, forms of election, police force, political parties, etc.
President Goodluck Jonathan signed two amendments to the 1999 constitution in January 2011. The most crucial changes started to become a reality since the constitution had come into utilization in 1999. Such features were caused by the preconditions that came up as a result of the development in Nigeria.
TYPES OF CONSTITUTIONS
There are different types of constitution. Some constitutions have all their provisions in one book. An example of such a constitution is the Nigeria constitution. They are called written constitutions.
Some other constitutions have their provisions in different books. They exist partly in customs and practice of application that are not written in books. They are called unwritten constitutions. A good example is the British constitution.
Some constitutions provide that the conduct of government shall be by a single arm of government for the country. These are called unitary constitutions. Countries that operate unitary constitutions include Ghana, Gambia, and sierra-Leone.
Some other constitutions provide for two or three levels of government, and how they are to operate in governing one country. An example, again, is the Nigeria constitution, which provides for three levels of government: Local, state and federal. These are called federal constitutions. Other countries that operate this from of constitution include the United State of America, Germany and lndia.
Some other countries have constitutions that regulate the conduct of government by a union of two or more states. In this type of constitution, the collective government is not as strong as the governments of the states that make up the union. These are called confederal or semi federal constitutions.
There are also countries that have constitutions in which the law-making, law implementing and law interpreting organs of government are partially merged together. This type of constitution is called parliamentary constitution. This type of constitution was operated in Nigeria between 1960 and 1963
Some other constitutions provide for separate law-making, law-implementing and law-interpreting organs of government, with the president having the law-implementing power of government. These are called presidential constitutions. Nigeria currently operates this type of constitution.
Using these elements of classification of constitutions, the present Nigeria constitution can be called written, federal and presidential.
OVERIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
It is the legal document from which all institutions of government gets validity. Everything is somehow linked to the constitution. For example, if you have a company,even though it is a private company, it is linked to the constitution. How you ask? Well, for the company to be valid, you must have applied for a certificate of incorporation from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) right?
The Corporate Affairs Commission as a body was created via the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). The CAMA was a law created by the National Assembly, the National Assembly was given the power to create laws on companies by item 62 of the Exclusive Legislative List the 1999 Constitutions.
You see, linked! So, the Constitution is important because everything is linked to it.It contains all the fundamental rights of every Nigeria citizen
The Constitution is supreme – this means that any law or any action which is inconsistent or incompatible with any of the provisions contained in the Constitution is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency.
The Constitution sets out the powers of the 3 arms of Government- the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. It states the procedure that must be followed for the creation of a new State or for the boundary adjustment of an existing State (and Local Government as well). It provides that before any international treaty can be effective in Nigeria, it must be enacted into law by the National Assembly. See Section 12 of the Constitution.
It provides that the composition of the Government or any of its agencies must reflect the federal character of Nigeria and there should be no predominance of persons from a few state or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government.
The Constitution states the procedure through which an individual can become a Nigeria citizen. It also states the procedure through which a Nigeria Citizen can renounce his/her citizenship.
It provides for the fundamental rights of all Nigeria citizens. Which are:
- Right to life
- Right to dignity
- Right to personal liberty
- Right to fair hearing
- Right to privacy
- Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- Right to freedom of expression
- Right to freedom of assembly
- Right to freedom of movement within Nigeria
- Right to freedom from discrimination
- Right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria
The 1999 Constitution provides that a person has to be at least 35 years old to be a Senator, and atleast 30 years old to a member of the House of Representatives. It also provides that a person has to be at least 40 years old to run for the office of President, and lays down the process for electing a President. It states that for a President to be elected he must win a simple majority of the election and have not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all States in Nigeria
The 1999 Constitution protects the National Youth Service Legislation, the Land Use Act, the Public Complaints Commission Act, and the National Securities Agencies Act, so the only way these 4 laws can be amended is to follow the procedure to amend the Constitution itself, therefore it puts these laws on the same level as the Constitution.
The Constitution sets out the process for the impeachment of political office holders. It also sets out the process for creating a political party.
The constitution sets out the roles of the different Judges for all the courts, and the criteria for their selection.
ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA
The three main branches/organs of government are:
- The Legislative,
- The Executive, and
- The Judiciary.
Very simply, the legislative branch makes the laws, the executive enforces law, and the judiciary interprets the laws.
These three organs of government provide a system of checks and balances to make sure that there a separation of power so no single organ has too much power over the people.The legislature makes laws, the executive enforces them and the judiciary applies them to the specific cases arising out of the breach of law.
THE RULE OF LAW:
This principle demands that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; it is simply the principle of government by law
PARTS OF THE CONSTITUTION
1) The Preamble is intended to be a page of contents for the Nigeria legislation. Chapter 1 has general provisions and gives us a general look and summary statements. It has the main rule that the Constitution shall remain the most powerful authority for people and government.
2)The next part is about Government. It claims that the country’s law should be based on the rules of democracy and justice among society. The administration framework in Nigeria is indicated by the constitution and demonstrates that people are working on the presidential and the President should be taken as the formal head.
3)The next chapter is dedicated to the territory. All the details that affect the group of people in thecountry are emphasized here. It also talks about citizenship and ways of achieving this.
4) Chapter 4 is dedicated to the main rights that serve as the foundation of every citizen’s life. Separation of powers can be found in section 4, 5 while section 6 delegates certain powers to be among organs of Government in Nigeria. The Section 4 of the 1999 constitution discusses administrative arm of Government, section 5 has focuses on the Executive and section6 discusses the individual.
5) Section 5 is about sovereignty and legislature. The power can be characterized as the capacity that a country can control without outside obstruction or interference.
6) Chapter 6 is dedicated to the Executive arm. It discusses the position of a President, candidates, and elections. The second and third parts are dedicated to state executive and other issues.
7) The following chapters discuss Federalism and Constitutionalism. Particularly, chapter 7 is about Nigerian Courts and everything connected with it.
8) Chapter eight is about the Federal Capital Territory and local government.
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