5th Alteration2023· Acts Nos. 1–16, 2023
Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Acts, 2023
Devolution: electricity, railways, prisons moved to the Concurrent List. Local-government and state-judiciary autonomy. The biggest single edit of the 1999 Constitution.
The record
The Fifth Alteration is the largest single edit of the 1999 Constitution — sixteen distinct Acts assented to by President Buhari in March 2023, days before he left office. The package was the legislative legacy of the 9th National Assembly under Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
The headline change is devolution. Electricity (generation, transmission and distribution within a state), railways and prisons (renamed Correctional Services) moved from the Exclusive Legislative List in Part I of the Second Schedule to the Concurrent Legislative List in Part II — giving the states the constitutional power to legislate on each. Streetlights and refuse on the Concurrent List were also clarified. The Federal Government retains its concurrent role.
The package also entrenched financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciaries (replacing §121(3) with a stricter formula), guaranteed financial autonomy for Local Government Councils, made it explicit that the National Assembly can summon the President or a Governor to answer questions on national-security matters, and provided pensions for ex-presiding officers of the National Assembly.
Several of the most-debated proposals — direct election of Local Government Chairs by universal adult suffrage, full state police, and the removal of the immunity clause — were defeated at the State Houses of Assembly and did not make the final bundle.
The constituent Acts
- Act No. 1, 2023
Electricity — moved to the Concurrent List
- Act No. 2, 2023
Railways — moved to the Concurrent List
- Act No. 3, 2023
Correctional Services (formerly Prisons) — moved to the Concurrent List
- Act No. 4, 2023
Streetlights and refuse — clarified on the Concurrent List
- Act No. 5, 2023
Financial autonomy of State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciaries
- Act No. 6, 2023
Independence of the State Judiciary
- Act No. 7, 2023
Local Government — direct deduction and disbursement of allocations
- Act No. 8, 2023
National Assembly — summons of the President and Governors on national security
- Act No. 9, 2023
Devolution of powers
- Act No. 10, 2023
Removal of certain offices from the Public Service
- Act No. 11, 2023
Pension for ex-Presiding Officers of the National Assembly
- Act No. 12, 2023
Establishment of the Office of the Attorney-General independent of the Minister of Justice
- Act No. 13, 2023
Citizenship by registration
- Act No. 14, 2023
Composition of the National Judicial Council
- Act No. 15, 2023
Number of Ministers (must include a Minister from every State)
- Act No. 16, 2023
Time within which to lay annual budget estimates
Sections altered
- §4 →
Legislative powers — Exclusive and Concurrent Lists reorganised by the devolution Acts.
- §121 →
Direct payment of statutory allocations to State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciaries.
- §147 →
Composition of the Federal Cabinet — at least one Minister from every State.
- §162 →
Federation Account distribution to Local Government Councils — direct deduction.
- §240 →
Court of Appeal jurisdiction — extended to pre-election appeals from the NICN.
- §254C →
NICN jurisdiction over labour cases including matters arising under international labour conventions.
Tier 1 · primary
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Tier 2 · corroborating
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Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
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