The document every other Nigerian law answers to

Plain language — our explanation

The Constitution binds every authority and person in Nigeria, and where another law is inconsistent with it the Constitution prevails and that other law is void to the extent of the inconsistency. It also provides that no person may take control of government except as the Constitution allows.

Plain language — our explanation

Declares Nigeria one indivisible, indissoluble sovereign state, and a federation consisting of states and a Federal Capital Territory.

Plain language — our explanation

Divides the power to make law. The National Assembly legislates on the Exclusive Legislative List; both it and the State Houses of Assembly may legislate on the Concurrent List; the states cover what remains. Where a federal and a state law on a concurrent matter conflict, the federal law prevails.

Plain language — our explanation

Vests the executive power of the Federation in the President and of a state in its Governor, exercisable directly or through officers subordinate to them, and marks out the limits of that power.

Plain language — our explanation

Vests judicial power in the courts the Constitution establishes, and extends it to all matters between persons, or between government and any person, that concern the determination of civil rights and obligations.

Plain language — our explanation

Guarantees a system of democratically elected local government councils, and places duties on the states in relation to their establishment, structure, finance and functions.

Plain language — our explanation

A treaty between Nigeria and another country has no force of law here until the National Assembly enacts it. That is why an international convention can be argued in a Nigerian court only once it has been domesticated.

Plain language — our explanation

Directs every organ of government, and every person exercising legislative, executive or judicial power, to conform to and apply the provisions of Chapter II.

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States that Nigeria is a state based on democracy and social justice, that sovereignty belongs to the people, and that the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government.

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Sets political objectives including national integration and the prohibition of discrimination, and directs the State to abolish corrupt practices and abuse of power.

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Directs the social order towards freedom, equality and justice, with objectives covering equality before the law, humane conditions of work, and the protection of children and the vulnerable.

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Directs the State to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the water, air, land, forest and wildlife of Nigeria.

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Sets out what citizens owe in return — obedience to the Constitution and to lawful authority, respect for the dignity and rights of others, and the honest declaration of income and payment of tax.

Plain language — our explanation

Defines who is a Nigerian citizen by birth, by reference to birth in Nigeria and to parentage or grandparentage belonging to a community indigenous to Nigeria.

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Provides for citizenship by registration in the circumstances the section defines, on application to the President and subject to the conditions it states.

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Provides for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation where an applicant satisfies the requirements the section sets out, including residence and good character.

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No one may be intentionally deprived of life, save in execution of the sentence of a court for a criminal offence of which they have been found guilty, and in the narrow circumstances the section itself sets out.

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Prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery and servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. This is the right most often engaged by how a person is treated in custody.

Plain language — our explanation

Sets out when a person may lawfully be deprived of liberty, requires that an arrested person be informed in writing of the reason within the period stated, and requires that they be brought before a court within the periods the section prescribes.

Plain language — our explanation

Guarantees a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or tribunal that is independent and impartial, with the presumption of innocence and the protections that attach to a criminal charge — being informed of the charge, having time to prepare a defence, and having a legal practitioner of your own choice.

Plain language — our explanation

Protects the privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications. It is the constitutional footing beneath Nigeria's data protection regime.

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Includes the freedom to change religion or belief, and to manifest and propagate it in worship, teaching, practice and observance, alone or with others.

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Freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference, and to own or operate a medium for disseminating information, subject to the conditions the section states.

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The freedom to assemble peacefully and to associate with others, including to form or belong to a trade union or a political party.

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Freedom to move throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part of it, and freedom from being expelled from Nigeria or refused entry to it, with the qualifications the section states.

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Protects a citizen from being subjected to disabilities or restrictions, or given privileges, by reason only of community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion.

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Every citizen has the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria — a right that operates alongside, and is shaped by, the Land Use Act.

Plain language — our explanation

Movable property and interests in immovable property may not be compulsorily taken except in the manner, and for the purposes, prescribed by a law that requires prompt payment of compensation and gives access to a court.

Plain language — our explanation

Permits laws that are reasonably justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health, or to protect the rights of others — and addresses derogation during a period of emergency. Most real arguments about rights are fought here rather than over the right itself.

Plain language — our explanation

A person who alleges that a Chapter IV right has been, is being, or is likely to be contravened may apply to the High Court of the state where it occurred. This is the door to the fundamental rights enforcement procedure.

Plain language — our explanation

Establishes a set of federal bodies in the Constitution itself rather than by ordinary legislation — among them the National Judicial Council, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Federal Character Commission — which is why their functions cannot simply be legislated away.

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Establishes the Federation Account and provides for the distribution of revenue among the Federal Government, the states and the local government councils.

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Establishes the Nigeria Police Force as the police force for Nigeria, and provides that no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part of it except as the section allows.

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Gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in disputes between the Federation and a state, or between states, where the dispute involves a question of law or fact on which the existence of a legal right depends. It is why some constitutional disputes begin at the top instead of working their way up.

Plain language — our explanation

Lists the matters over which the Federal High Court has exclusive jurisdiction, including much of revenue, company, admiralty, banking and federal agency litigation. Filing in the wrong court is one of the most common and most expensive procedural mistakes.

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Establishes election petition tribunals and sets strict limits on the time within which petitions must be filed and determined. Those limits are constitutional, and a court has no power to extend them.

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Sets out the procedure by which the President may proclaim a state of emergency, the conditions for doing so, and the requirement of approval by the National Assembly.

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While in office, the President, Vice-President, Governors and Deputy Governors are protected from civil and criminal proceedings against them in their personal capacity, on the terms the section sets. The protection ends when the office does.

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Provides how laws already in force when the Constitution came into effect continue to operate, and how they are to be read so as to bring them into conformity with it.