Abstract
Every nation adopts a political system that best suits its nature and context. Most heterogeneous states, including Nigeria, adopt federalism as a system of government. This system allows for the division of power and jurisdiction between the levels of government that make up the federation. Over time, it has been observed that Nigeria’s federalism is confronted with many issues that have triggered agitations and patriotic calls for a true practice of federalism by its citizenry. This study is aimed at highlighting the inherent flaws in the Nigerian federal system. Data were generated from official publications, reputable journals, newspapers, conference papers, and internet sources. These sources were augmented with direct observations from the practice of federalism in Nigeria. The content analysis method was used to analyse the data. The findings show that Nigeria is run on a single constitution, making the other tiers of government over-dependent on the federal government. These situations are contrary to what applies in true federalism. This paper recommends that Nigeria should have just two tiers of government: federal and state governments, each having a separate constitution. The federating units should control all the resources within their borders.