THE 1979 CONSTITUTION
Introduction:
The constitution was fashioned after the American Presidential system of government characterized by separation of powers. The legislature was bi-cameral with 95 Senators and 450 members of the House of Representatives. The qualification for contesting the senatorial seat was 30 years of age while that of the House of Representatives was 21 years and the candidate must be a Nigerian citizen.
The constitution provided for an Executive President that would be directly elected by the people and the candidate must have attained the age 35.
General features of the Constitution
1. The constitution introduced an executive presidential system of government in Nigeria.
2. It provided for an elected President and nominated Vice President.
3. It gave residual powers to the state government.
4. It gave the legislature the power to impeach the executive.
5. The principle of separation of powers, checks and balances were introduced and entrenched into the constitution.
6. It provided for democratically elected local government councils as the third- tier of government in Nigeria.
7. It ratified the division of Nigeria into 19 states as carved out by General Murtala Mohammed in 1976.
8. Election of the President and Governors thorough direct election by the electorate was introduced and each was to be accountable to the people.
9. It provided for a bi-cameral legislature which it called National Assembly and a unicameral at the states level.
Merits of the 1979 Constitution
1. There was complete separation of powers among the three arms of government and no one belonged to more than one arm of government.
2. There was provision for Fundamental Human Rights.
3. The President was not accountable to the legislature but to the people who directly elected him into power.
4. The ministers were held individually accountable for their ministries as there was no collective responsibility.
5. Ministers could be selected from any political party thereby making it possible for the government to make use of best hands.
Demerits/ weaknesses of the 1979 Constitution
1. The system was very expensive to maintain especially where there were many legislators that were paid and many Aides appointed by the president.
2. The use of lobbying guaranteed by the constitution became an instrument of corruption and intimidation as gratification were used by the government to suppress opponents.
3. The legislators used impeachment to intimidate the executive into complying with their desires, (e.g. the Kaduna state executive)
4. The Ministers retained their posts at the discretion of the president and not that of the nation.
5. The legislators were left to fix their salaries and allowances and they concentrated more on how to share the national resources among themselves than the welfare of the nation.
NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE (1994)/1999 CONSTITUTION
National Constitutional Conference of 1994
The then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, set up a constitutional conference that was to understudy the problems of Nigeria and work out an indigenous constitution for the country.
The major highlights of the conference included;
1. The issue of rotational presidency.
2. The system of government and diarchy, and
3. Foreign relations.
Recommendations of the Conference
the conference made the following recommendations;
1. A bi-cameral legislature at the centre with three senators from each state and 360 members of the House of Representatives.
2. A unicameral legislature for the state and local government to avoid the excesses of the previous administration.
THE 1999 CONSTITUTION
Features of the Constitution
1. It introduced a presidential system of government as in the 1979 constitution.
2. Supremacy of the constitution over any other legislation was upheld.
3. It provided for bicameral legislature at the centre and unicameral for the states. The qualifications for membership of the legislature are;
(i) Senate# –the candidate must be a Nigerian who has attained the age of 35 and has a minimum of secondary school certificate.
(ii) House of Representatives- must be a Nigerian, who attained the age of 30 and has a minimum of secondary school certificate.
(iii) House of Assembly for the states- a Nigerian citizen who must have attained the age of 30, with a minimum of secondary school certificate.
4. The President and Governor must be 40 band 35 years respectively.
5. Franchise was limited to those who are 18 years and above.
6. The country was divided into 36 federating states with Abuja as the neutral federal capital territory.
7. Fundamental human rights were enshrined in the constitution.
8. Autonomy of the local governments was preserved and there 774 single-tier local government areas.
9. State religion was prohibited.
10. It was a written constitution.
11. Separation of powers, checks-and-balances are inherent in the constitution.
12. Federal Executive Bodies were established, e.g. Code of Conduct Bureau, Council of State, Federal Character Commission, Federal Civil Service Commission, etc.