GODWIN IKPASA V. BENDEL STATE

SIR UDO UDOMA, JSC (Delivering the Leading Judgment): There was in force and full operation throughout Nigeria under a unitary system of government one Criminal Code under the Criminal Code Ordinance from 1961 up to and including 30th September, 1954. In it, the crime of murder was clearly defined; and the penalty prescribed to be visited upon anyone convicted of having committed the offence was death. Then came the Constitution of 1954. On 1st October, 1954, by the Nigerian (Constitution) Order in Council 1954, Nigeria became a Federation, comprising three separate Regions, namely, Northern, Eastern and Western Regions, with Lagos constituted a Federal Territory but treated as a Region for all practical constitutional purposes, except that it was not endowed with a separate government and a separate legislature. Lagos was represented by a Minister in the Council of Ministers of the Federation. He was styled the Minister for Lagos Affairs. Under the Constitution of 1954, the territory…