The Clifford Constitution of 1922 introduced:

Answer Details

The Clifford Constitution of 1922, named after Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor of Nigeria at the time, is historically significant because it introduced the elective principle into Nigerian governance for the first time. This meant that, for the first time, a limited number of Nigerians could vote to elect representatives to the Legislative Council.

Specifically, the constitution provided for four elected members on the Legislative Council: three representing Lagos and one representing Calabar. Only adult males who earned a minimum annual income of 100 pounds were eligible to vote, which meant the franchise was extremely restricted. Nevertheless, this was a landmark development because it replaced the purely nominated system of the previous Nigerian Council (established under the Lugard Constitution of 1914), where all members were appointed by the Governor.

The introduction of the elective principle had a profound effect on Nigerian political development. It stimulated the formation of political parties, most notably Herbert Macaulay's Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1923, which was created specifically to contest the new elections. The other options - regional government, state police, and federalism - were features introduced by later constitutions, particularly the Richards Constitution of 1946 and the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954.