macpherson constitution Flashcards
what happened before the constitution was promulgated
Before this constitution was promulgated into law, Sir John Macpherson presented its draft and allowed Nigerians to debate it at conferences which took place at every strata of the society from the Central through to the District and village levels. According to Awolowo (1966:6) the colonial Governor, through his Chief Secretary Sir Hugh Foot, framed a number of questions to which people were called upon to apply their minds and give specific answers.
excerpts of the questions:
- Do we wish to see a fully centralized system with all the legislative and executive power concentrated at the centre, or do we wish to develop a federal system under which each different Region of the country would exercise a measure of internal autonomy?
- If we favour a federal system of government, should we retain the existing Regions with some modifications of existing regional boundaries, or should we form Regions on some new basis, such as the many linguistic groups which exist in Nigeria?
- What changes should be made in the composition of the Regional Legislative Houses and Legislative Councils? Should the number of unofficial members be increased? Should the system of nominated members be retained?
- What functions and powers should be reserved to the Central Legislative Council in order to achieve the overriding objective of maintaining and strengthening the unity of Nigeria?
- Should the system to be introduced in all these matters and necessarily be the same in each Region, o r should each Region be given freedom to decide on modifications to suit its own peculiar circumstances and needs?
At the end of the conferences, the followings were the general consensus from each of the regions.
At the end of the conferences, the followings were the general consensus from each of the regions. (see Olusanya; 1973:130-32):
Regional Recommendations
1. Northern Region • A federal system • A central Legislature • Regional Legislature to legislate on specific subjects and others as may be vested by the Central legislature.
2. Western Region • A federal system whose component units would be formed on ethnic and linguistic basis • A federal parliament • Regional parliaments competent to legislate on all residual matters not specifically included in the legislative powers of the central parliament.
3. Eastern Region • A federal system • A central legislature • Regional legislature that can legislate only on matters as the central legislature may delegate to them
4. The Lagos Colony According to Awolowo (1966:7), the recommendations of the Lagos Colony conference were substantially in the same terms as those of the Western Regional Conferences.3 In response to the public opinion, Sir John Macpherson’s constitution substantially reflected some of the views expressed at the conferences and contained in the recommendations submitted by each region.
Main Provisions of the Constitution
a) It introduced a federal system in which the constitutional powers were divided between the central and the regional legislatures with the proviso that in the event of a clash under the concurrent legislative matters, the regional laws was voided to the extent of its inconsistency with that of the central legislature.
b) The Governor had the reserved powers to refuse assent to any bill passed by the central legislature or to enact into law, bills rejected by the parliament.
c) Flexible electoral laws at the central, regional and provincial levels.
d) The number of the elected Nigerians into the legislative councils both at the central and regional levels was increased.
e) The Governor was empowered to stop or propose amendment to any regional bill considered to be in conflict with the national interest.
f) It maintained the three regional structures - North, East and West with Legislative and Executive Councils established in each. Both the North and the West had a bi-camera Legislature each while the East had a single-chamber Legislature.
Composition of the Regional Assemblies
The Northern Region i) House of Assembly • President appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor • Official members 4 • Special members 10 • Elected members 90 ii) House of Chiefs • Governor as President • All first class Emirs • Other Chiefs 37 • Official member 3 • Adviser on Moslem Law 1 The Western Region i) House of Assembly • Governor as the President • Official members 4 • Special members 3 • Elected members 80 ii) House of Chiefs • Lieutenant-Governor as President • All first and second class Obas 50 • Official members 3 • Special members 3 The Eastern Region i) House of Assembly
- Lieutenant-Governor as President
- Official members 5
- Special members 3
- Elected members 80
Merits of the Constitution
- This was the first constitution ever to be drawn with the full participation or consultation of Nigerians which was seen as an improvement on the previous exercises.
- The constitution was also the first to introduce quasi-federalism in Nigeria and also to introduce Ministerial positions for Nigerians. 3. It was commendable because it introduced a Revenue Allocation formula based on the principles of Derivation, Needs and National Interest.
Defects of the Constitution
- The constitution was condemned by the nationalists because it was only the government proposals that were eventually considered at the final stage.
- In the same vein, the composition of the Constitution review committee was designed to suit the imperialist interests, giving more preference to the native Chiefs who had been serving the colonial interests. 3. The constitution was also criticized for not providing for the position of Prime minister and Premier at the Central and Regional levels of government, which would have given the government a semblance of responsible leadership. 4. The ministers were not in charge of given departments or a ministry that is, they were ministers without portfolios.
