Inside Ironsi’s 1966 Decree: How Nigeria’s Regional System Was Abolished

After the January 1966 coup, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi issued Decree No. 1 to suspend the 1963 Constitution and centralize power in the Supreme Military Council. This move gave the military government unchecked authority and paved the way for rule by decree. Decree No. 1 dissolved federal and regional legislatures, transferred all branches of government to military control, and made its decrees immune from judicial review. It also set the stage for Decree No. 34 in May 1966, which formally replaced Nigeria’s federal system with a unitary structure. Although intended to restore order and curb corruption, the decree deepened ethnic suspicions—especially in Northern Nigeria—and triggered the July counter-coup that claimed Ironsi’s life and brought Colonel Yakubu Gowon to power. Decree No. 1 shaped military governance in Nigeria until the return to civilian rule in 1999.

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