Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment) Order in Council, 1958
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1958/429 |
| Year | 1958 |
1958 No. 429
The Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment) Order in Council, 195814thMarch 1958
20thMarch 1958
1stApril 1958
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 14th day of March, 1958
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in that behalf by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890(a), or otherwise in Her Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Citation, construction and commencement
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment) Order in Council, 1958, and shall be construed as one with the Nigeria (Constitution) Orders in Council, 1954 to 1957(b).
(2) The Nigeria (Constitution) Orders in Council, 1954 to 1957, and this Order may be cited together as the Nigeria (Constitution) Orders in Council, 1954 to 1958.
(3) This Order shall come into operation on the first day of April, 1958:
Provided that—
(a) subsection (2) of section 9 of this Order shall come into operation on the day after the dissolution of the Northern House of Assembly next following the commencement of this Order;
(b) sections 17, 18 and 26, subsection (2) of section 27 and section 28 of this Order shall come into operation on the day after the dissolution of the House of Assembly of the Southern Cameroons next following the commencement of this Order;
(c) sections 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 and 71 of this Order shall come into operation on such date, not being a date earlier than the commencement of this Order, as may be fixed by the High Commissioner for the Southern Cameroons by Proclamation published in the Official Gazette of the Southern Cameroons; and
(a) 53 & 54 Vict. c. 37.
(b) S.I. 1954/1146, 1955/432, 1956/836, 1957/1363, 1530 (1954 II, p. 2829; 1955 II, p. 3163; 1956 II, p. 2953; 1957 II, pp. 3028, 3030).
(d) so much of section 106 of this Order as relates to the insertion of section 236 in the principal Order shall come into operation on such date, not being a date earlier than the commencement of this Order, as may be fixed by the High Commissioner for the Southern Cameroons by Proclamation published in the Official Gazette of the Southern Cameroons.
Revocation
2. The Nigeria (Electoral Provisions) Order in Council, 1957(a), and the Nigeria (Acting Federal Justices) Order in Council, 1958(b), are revoked.
Amendment of Order of 1954
3.—(1) Section 2 of the Nigeria (Constitution) Order in Council, 1954, (hereinafter called "the principal Order") (as amended by section 2 of the Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment No. 2) Order in Council, 1957) is amended—
(a) by the deletion of subsection (4) and the substitution of the following subsection:—
"(4) (a) In this Order, unless it is otherwise expressly provided or required by the context—
(i) references to officers in the public service of the Federation or in the public service of a Region are references to persons holding offices of emolument in that public service and include references to persons appointed to act in such offices;
(ii) any reference to an officer by the term designating his office shall be construed as a reference to the officer for the time being lawfully discharging the functions of that office and shall include, in the case of the Governor-General and the High Commissioner for the Southern Cameroons, the Deputy Governor-General, to the extent to which he is authorised to discharge the functions of the office of Governor-General or the office of High Commissioner, as the case may be, in the case of the Governor of a Region, the Deputy Governor of the Region, to the extent to which he is authorised to discharge the functions of the office of Governor, and in the case of the Commissioner of the Cameroons, the Deputy Commissioner of the Cameroons, to the extent to which he is authorised to discharge the functions of the office of Commissioner;
(iii) references to the public service of the Federation include references to the service of the Crown in a civil capacity in respect of the government of the Southern Cameroons and in respect of the government of Lagos; and
(iv) references to offices in the public service of the Federation include references to the offices of the judges of the courts established for the Federation or the Southern Cameroons or Lagos and the offices of magistrates of the Federation or the Southern Cameroons or Lagos and other judicial offices thereof and references to offices in the public service of a Region include references to the offices of the judges of the courts established for the Region and the office of magistrates of the Region and other judicial offices thereof.
(a) S.I. 1957/2060.
(b) S.I. 1958/260.
(b) For the purposes of this Order—
(i) a person shall not be considered to hold an office of emolument under the Crown by reason only that he is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance in respect of services in an office of emolument under the Crown;
(ii) the offices referred to in subsection (2) of section 8 and subsection (2) of section 8A of the Nigeria (Offices of Governor-General and Governors) Order in Council, 1954, as amended, shall be offices in the public service of the Federation and the offices referred to in subsection (2) of section 17 of that Order, as amended, shall be offices of emolument in the public service of a Region;
(iii) the offices of Minister, Parliamentary Secretary to a Minister, member of the House of Representatives, Minister of the Southern Cameroons, member of the House of Assembly of the Southern Cameroons and member of the House of Chiefs of the Southern Cameroons shall not be considered to be offices in the public service of the Federation; and
(iv) the offices of Regional Minister, Attorney-General of the Western Region, Attorney-General of the Eastern Region, member of a Regional Legislative House and member of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Region shall not be considered to be offices in the public service of a Region.
(c) Where by or under this Order a power is conferred upon the Governor-General or the Governor of a Region to make any appointment to any public office, a person may be appointed to that office notwithstanding that some other person may be holding that office, when that other person is on leave of absence pending relinquishment of the office; and where two or more persons are holding the same office by reason of an appointment made pursuant to this paragraph, then for the purposes of any function conferred upon the holder of that office the person last appointed shall be deemed to be the sole holder of the office.
(d) Where by this Order power is conferred upon the Governor-General or the Governor of a Region to appoint a person to act in any office when the holder of the office is unable to perform the functions of the office, the validity of any appointment made in exercise of that power shall not be called in question in any court on the ground that the holder of the office is not unable to perform the functions of the office."; and
(b) by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsection:—
"(4A) Where by this Order the Governor-General or the Governor of a Region or the Commissioner of the Cameroons is required to act in accordance with the advice or recommendation of, or after consultation with, any person or authority the question whether he has in any matter so acted shall not be called in question in any court."
(2) Until such time as section 65 of this Order comes into operation, subsection (4) of section 2 of the principal Order, as set out in subsection (1) of this section, shall have effect as if the words "Minister of the Southern Cameroons" in sub-paragraph (iii) of paragraph (b) were deleted and the words "member of the Executive Council of the Southern Cameroons" were substituted.
4.—(1) Section 10 of the principal Order (as amended by section 6 of the Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment No. 2) Order in Council, 1957) is amended by the deletion from subsection (3) of the words "paragraph (d)" in paragraph (a) and the substitution of the words "sub-paragraphs (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (b)".
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall affect the operation of subsection (2) of section 6 of the Nigeria (Constitution) (Amendment No. 2) Order in Council, 1957.
5. Section 14 of the principal Order is amended by the deletion of the words "or the House of Assembly of the Southern Cameroons" in paragraph (d) and the substitution of the words", the House of Assembly of the Southern Cameroons or the House of Chiefs of the Southern Cameroons".
6. Section 17 of the principal Order is revoked and the following section is substituted—
"Composition of Northern House of Chiefs.
17.—(1) The members of the Northern House of Chiefs shall be—
(a) all first-class Chiefs;
(b) forty-seven Chiefs, other than first-class Chiefs, selected for membership of the House in accordance with regulations made under section 18 of this Order;
(c) those members of the Executive Council of the Northern Region who are members of the Northern House of Assembly; and
(d) an adviser on Moslem law appointed in accordance with section 19 of this Order.
(2) For the purposes of this section—
"Chief" means any person who is for the time being recognised as a Chief by the Governor;
"first-class Chief" means any Chief who is for the time being graded as a first-class Chief under the Appointment and Deposition of Chiefs Ordinance(a), as from time to time amended, as it applies in relation to the Northern Region or any enactment replacing that Ordinance in its application to the Northern Region.".
7. Section 18 of the principal Order is amended by the deletion of the words "acting in his discretion".
8. Section 20 of the principal Order is revoked and the following section is substituted:—
"President and Deputy President of Northern House of Chiefs.
20.—(1) The Governor shall, by Instrument under the...
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