Nigeria’s Permanent Constitutional Transition

This chapter examines how Nigeria has made the transition under military rule from a relatively decentralized, parliamentary federation comprised of four ethnic regions to a centrist, presidential federalism with thirty-six states. It first provides a historical background on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution between 1914 and 1999 before discussing the period of constitutional engagement, focusing on the military’s Constitution-making procedures and especially its territorial restructuring initiatives, its centralization of constitutional functions and fiscal resources, its constitutional choice of a executive presidential system of government, and its establishment of the so-called agencies of restraint. The chapter also considers the outcomes of the military’s constitutional reforms and concludes with an analysis of lessons that can be drawn from the Nigerian case. In particular, it highlights the challenges that have developed since the return of civilian rule, giving rise to a relentless constitutional politics that underscores the permanent or continuous nature of Nigeria’s constitutional transition.