The outcome of the London conference of
1953 and that of Lagos in 1954 formed
the basis of the Lytteton Constitution which was named
after the then secretary of state for the colonies Mr. Oliver
Lyttleton later Lord chander. The 1954
constitution was important because of the following reasons:

  • The central legislature now known as
    federal house of representative was
    composed of 184 directly elected representatives in
    terms of 92 members for North, 42 for West and 42 members
    for Eastern region.
  • The federal
    council of ministers become the policy making body of government
    with three members from each region, three official
    members and one member from Southern Cameroon.
  • The
    Regions: The constitution formally created three main regions i.e.
    Northern, Western and Eastern region. The house of Assembly of each
    region was given legislative powers.
  • The constitution formally established federal
    system of government with
    constitutional division of powers between the federal and the
    state governments.
  • The Regional House of Assemblies ceased to
    serve as electoral colleges
    for the central legislature.
  • The titles of the Chief Executives were
    changed. The Chief Executives of the
    country was identified as Governor General while the Regional Chief executive were
    called Governors in place of Governor
    and Lt. Governor respectively as they were known by the 1951
    constitution.
  • Speakers were appointed to preside over the legislatures instead of the
    Governor and Lt. Governor as the case was before 1954  
  • For the first
    time the judiciary and the civil service were decentralized and
    each region received-the powers to set up its own  marketing 
    Board for the sale of the major commodities produced
    in the region.