same with that of the former position of the Governor-General. The Judicial Service Commission was abolished and the president was empowered to appoint Judge of the Supreme Court and that of the High Court of Lagos, but on the advice of the Prime Minister. Also of importance is the fact that, the Supreme Court become the final court of appeal. The power to declare any Federal or Regional law unconstitutional was vested in the Supreme Court. This is the power of judicial review, enforced when law is inconsistent with constitutional provisions. Emergency power were also given to the Federal Government that is the power to declare a state of emergency when the needs arose, instructions were given based on the creation of the regions and adjustment in the existing ones. Finally revenue allocation was to be done by the Federal Government.

1966 CONSTITUTION

The 1963 constitution did not operate for more than two and a half years due to the crises of that period. The Action Group crises, the Tiv riots, the population census crises and so on: These and the fact that all the political parties were fighting desperately for power led to manipulation of census figure, corruption, violence, rigging of elections etc. The system become too hot for the political class of that period and the military took over government on the 14th of January 1966.

The military take-over brought the military decree. The office of the President, Federal and Regional Legislature, the Federal and Regional Executive Councils, the offices of the Prime Minister, Governors and Premiers were suppressed. These were done by the military through a decree known as suppression and modification decree.

Under this constitution, the Head of the Federal Military Government and Commander in chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces became the Head of the State performing the function of the president. The four Regions were replaced by twelve state with Federal Government at the centre. The Federal Government was now made up of the Head of the Federal Military Government, the supreme military council made of military men and the Federal Executive Council composed of Civilian Commissioners appointed by the Head of the Military Government on the advice of the Supreme Military Council.

The Federal Legislative organ was the Supreme Military Council that was performing the function of the federal parliament while the Federal Executive Council performed that of the council of ministers. At the State Level the Military Governors were performing the functions of the governments and the executive function was performed by the state Executive Council. The Military Governors were appointed by the Head of the Federal Military Government in consultation with the Supreme Military Council. The Government at the state levels was made of military Governors and civilians as state Executive Council members appointed by the Military Governor.

The exclusive concurrent and Residual division of power was maintained under the Military regime in Nigeria. The Exclusive matter was strictly under the jurisdiction of the Federal Military Government while the concurrent list was under the federal and state government jurisdiction. The states can legislate upon matters in the Residual list without seeking the consent of the Federal Military Government. Noteworthy, legislative power of the Federal Military Government extends to every matters as long as it is in the interest of the nation be it concurrent or Residual. It is pertinent to note that unlike the pre-1966 constitutions that can be challenged in the court, the 1966 degree cannot be challenged. The appointment and removal of Judges is decided at the national level.

THE 1979 CONSTITUTION

The Second Republic constitution had some democratic structures such as the provision of an Executive President who was the head of government as well as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. It also had in place the American presidential system of government with separation of power between the Executive and the legislative arm of government, that is to say the president was the main figure in the central institution. He as the Chief executive had the executive powers of the state vested in him and the power to present the budget of the federation. He also had the power to declare a state of emergency, appointment of some government functionaries such as ambassadors, etc.

The 1999 constitution also made provisions for a unicameral legislature different from the Bicameral legislature in the First Republic. The Second Republic has a national assembly that was more powerful than the parliament in the first republic.

The constitution also dealt with the issue of human right and gender discriminations. The rights and privileges of Nigerian citizens were clearly spelt out: The right to dignity. Also stipulated was the right to peaceful assembly and association equal rights for ail irrespective of sex, tribe etcetera. The Second Republic had the problems of corruption and mismanagement. Electoral malpractices were seriously seen in 1983 general elections. Due to these facts and other unfortunate issues, the constitution failed since the operators, the political class could not meet the hopes and aspirations of the people. This brought the military into the scene again.

1989 CONSTITUTION

The third republic constitution was initiated under the Babangida military rule through a political bureau of 1986, which organized a National debate, sampling the views of Nigerians based on the type of political system to be run in the country.

It is the report of the Commission that led to the establishment of a Constitution Review Committee in 1987 to review the 1963 and 1979 constitution in line with the political Bureau Recommendations. This review also brought about the inauguration of the constitution Assembly in 1988 that deliberated on the draft constitution and submitted it to the Military Government Armed Forces Council (AFRC) who worked on it and tagged it as the 1989 constitution. There were very few changes and some additions such as The Creation of traditional councils, the state areas and also the establishment of a two party system.

It is pertinent to note that this was in preparation for the third republic. Surprisingly the constitution was supposed to be operative under a military government at the centre and civilian governors at the state. Little wonders that it met an untimely death when the June 12 1993 presidential election was annulled giving the nation a stillbirth third republic. This kept the military in government until 1999 with a short recess of an interim government in August 26, 1993.

1999 CONSTITUTION

The Military Government selected a few persons who collated their views and wrote a report that was accepted and presented as 1999 constitution. Note that the representatives of the people prepared the 1979, 1989 and1995 draft constitutions after tense debates that threatened the continuous existence of the country as one state.

The 1999 constitution is more or less a unitary type of constitution, by centralizing all the important powers and resources at the federal level. The Executive legislative list was increased from 66 of 1979 to 68. This surprisingly, included issues that should be in the concurrent list but were in the residual list.

The constitution limited the eligibility to contest election to be National Assembly to those who were registered with a political party. The constitution also provided for the removal of the president and vice-president on the grounds of misconduct as defined by the constitution. The president is compelled to appoint at least one minister from each state of the federation. Thus the president has no control over the size of his cabinet. Several sections of the constitution discouraged corruption and promoted accountability and transparency. The provision on Human Rights was almost the same with those of 1979 constitution.

The military granted themselves immunity from actions, which they had taken in the past by ensuring that the constitution precludes the courts from challenging the validity of any military decree or action or Edict from January 1960 – May 1990.

The constitution also made provision for a federal character commission. This was established to make sure that the federal character of the country was recognized in all federal appointments. It is subject to the approval of the National Assembly for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the federal and state public services such as the Armed Forces, Police Force, public companies and agencies.

The constitution made provision for the National Defence Council, National Security Council and Nigeria Police Council headed by the president and the National Economic Council headed by the Vice President.

CONCLUSION

It is important to register in our minds that the people of Nigeria have not at any time drawn a constitution for themselves said to have been fully accepted by all and well implemented. The problem of trust and compromise that over took the served as an obstacle to the operation of the federal constitution in 1966. The attempt to review the 1966 constitution was a failure and the fact that it was an attempt made by the military equally made it worse. Agitation for the review of certain aspects of the 1999 constitutions has already stated.

CLASSS ASSIGNMENT