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Federal Government
Nigeria’s 1979 constitution laid out a government styled after that of the United States—made of separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. A new constitution was promulgated in 1989 that introduced minor changes. After General Abacha's death in June 1998, his successor, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, promoted a transition to democratic, civilian rule and appointed a constitutional commission to draft a new constitution. Legislative and presidential elections based on the old constitution were held in February and March 1999, and the newly elected civilian government assumed control in May.
Executive
The president is elected to a four-year term by receiving a plurality of the total vote and at least one-fourth of the vote in at least two-thirds of the states. The president’s running mate becomes vice president for the same term. Cabinet appointments, made by the president and approved by the Senate, are constitutionally required to reflect Nigeria’s "federal character", that is, the country’s cultural diversity.
Legislature
The constitution calls for a two-chamber National Assembly with members elected to four-year terms. The upper chamber, or Senate, provides three seats for each of Nigeria’s 36 states and one seat for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. In the lower chamber, or House of Representatives, the number of seats representing each state is based on the state’s population. Legislative elections were held in February and March 1999 for 109 Senate seats and 360 seats in the House of Representatives.
Judiciary
Nigeria’s highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court, which comprises a chief justice and up to 15 associate justices. Below the Supreme Court sits a Federal Court of Appeal. Each state has a High Court, with judges appointed by the federal government. The Federal Capital Territory and states with large Islamic populations have the right to establish Sharia Courts of Appeal to administer Islamic civil law.
Political Parties
Since independence, political parties have been variously banned and allowed, according to the whim of the leaders in power. Immediately upon seizing power in December 1993, the Abacha government banned Nigeria’s two government-created political parties, then allowed renewed political activity in 1995. About 70 political groups were founded, 23 applied for official approval, and 5 were approved. Abacha was nominated to represent all five of the approved parties in the presidential elections planned for 1998, which would have ensured his victory. After Abacha’s death, Abubakar allowed the free formation of political parties, and the five parties approved by Abacha disbanded voluntarily. In the 1999 legislative elections, all the seats in the National Assembly were divided between Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party (which won the majority of seats), the All People’s Party, and the Alliance for Democracy.
State and Local Governments
Nigeria is divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. State governments consist of an elected governor, a deputy governor chosen by the governor, and a directly elected state assembly. The governor also nominates commissioners, who are confirmed by the assembly. The Federal Capital Territory is headed by a minister, who is appointed by the president.
The creation of new states has been a periodic feature of Nigerian life since 1967, when 12 states replaced the previous 4 regions. The creation of new states was immensely popular in previously neglected areas, which were given a greater share of oil wealth and other development. As a result, Nigerians routinely call for more states, using arguments about the ethnic and population balance to bolster their economic motivations. The federal government has responded by creating seven new states plus the Federal Capital Territory in 1976, two more in 1987, nine in 1991, and six in 1996. As the states have become smaller, they have become less viable and more dependent on federal government transfers.
As in the case of the states, there has been continuous lobbying for new local governments, which in 1997 numbered more than 700. Until 1976, traditional authorities controlled local governments, but reforms have since relegated traditional rulers to a mostly ceremonial role. In their place are democratically elected government councils with responsibility for things such as primary health care and primary education.
Defense
Nigeria’s defense forces, which peaked at 300,000 at the end of the civil war in 1970, had 76,500 personnel in 1999, which was still large and expensive compared to the region’s other countries. The army numbered 62,000 with major divisions based in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Kaduna, and Jos. The air force consisted of 9,500 personnel in four air commands, in Ikeja (near Lagos), Kaduna, Ibadan, and Makurdi. The 5,000-person navy is centered in Lagos and Calabar and has been strengthened in recent years to provide security for oil installations. The Nigerian Defence Academy is located at Kaduna. Nigeria has participated in peacekeeping operations of the United Nations (UN). It has also provided the majority of soldiers for the joint West African peace-keeping force in Liberia (since 1990) and Sierra Leone (from 1997 until 2000, when a UN peace-keeping force that included many Nigerian troops took over). Military service is voluntary.
Social Services
Nigeria has no state-supported social welfare system. Instead, most people rely on their extended families in difficult times and in old age. Medical care is provided to government employees and to most workers in large industrial and commercial enterprises. Other patients generally pay their medical fees and buy their own supplies and medications.
Malaria is the leading cause of death due to the growing resistance both of the malarial parasite to drugs as well as of the mosquito, which transmits malaria, to insecticides. Other preventable ills that the government has been able to reduce include measles, whooping cough, polio, cerebrospinal meningitis, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, tuberculosis, bronchitis, water-borne infectious diseases such as schistosomiasis, and sexually transmitted diseases.
International Organizations
At independence in 1960 Nigeria joined the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated agencies. It also joined the British Commonwealth of Nations. Its membership in the Commonwealth was temporarily suspended between 1995 and 1999 to protest human rights abuses and the slow rate of democratization by the Abacha government. She was re-instated into the organization after her return to democratic rule in 1999. Nigeria is also a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Non-aligned Movement (NAM). She is a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (now African Union), and took the lead in opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa. It is also the dominant partner in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and a member of the African Development Bank and the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
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