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Question

Difficulty: MediumThe Macpherson Constitution of 1951

Despite introducing Nigerian political leaders into the central Executive Council, a primary structural defect of the Macpherson Constitution of 1951 was that these ministers were

  1. denied direct departmental responsibility and executive control over their portfolios.Answer
  2. B
    subject to the executive authority of an elected Nigerian Prime Minister.
  3. C
    empowered with absolute constitutional authority to veto colonial legislation.
  4. D
    selected completely outside the membership of the central and regional legislatures.

Answer

Under the Macpherson Constitution of 1951, ministers lacked individual departmental responsibility and executive control over administrative ministries.
A major shortcoming of the 1951 Macpherson Constitution was that while it created ministerial positions for Nigerians within the Council of Ministers, it did not assign them direct executive authority or administrative control over government departments. Permanent Secretaries (British colonial officials) retained executive control, leaving ministers as collective decision-makers without individual ministerial portfolios.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the executive structure of the 1951 Macpherson Constitution.
Identified the establishment of the central Council of Ministers comprising the Governor, official members, and 12 Nigerian ministers (4 from each region).
To evaluate the specific constitutional role and powers assigned to Nigerian ministers under this constitution.
2
Examine the limitations placed on the executive roles of these ministers.
Discovered that ministers were not given full charge of government departments (ministries); civil service heads retained executive administrative powers.
This lack of portfolio control led to the classification of these positions as 'ministers without responsibility', representing a key constitutional flaw.

Key Concept

Executive defect of ministerial positions under the 1951 Macpherson Constitution
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Topics

The Macpherson Constitution of 1951