On Friday, 17th March 2023, news made the rounds that the immediate past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari signed 16 Constitutional amendment Bills into law.

One of these amendment Bills is the Fifth Alteration (No.23) which altered the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) (“the 1999 Constitution”) to require that the President and Governors are to submit the names of persons nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within sixty days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly and for related matters.

The importance of this amendment to the 1999 Constitution and what it portends for the executive arm of government in terms of hitting the ground running cannot be overestimated. A consideration of the fine print of this amendment will be the purpose of this article.