Section 18: Interpretation of particular expressions, etc.

(1)
In an enactment the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively, that is to say-
"act" includes an omission, and references to the doing of an act shall be construed accordingly;
"chief" means a person who, in accordance with the law in force in any part of Nigeria, is accorded the dignity of a chief by reference to that part or to a community established in that part;
"commencement", in relation to an enactment, means the time at which the enactment comes into force;
"consular officer" includes consul-general, consul, vice-consul, consular agent and any person for the time being authorised to discharge the duties of a consul-general, consul or vice-consul;
"contravention", in relation to an enactment, includes a failure to comply with the enactment;
"crew", in relation to a ship or other vessel, includes masters, mates, pilots, engineers, stokers, deck-hands and all persons engaged in the navigation of the ship or other vessel;
"Crown Agents" means the body established in the United Kingdom and commonly known as the Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations;
"daily penalty", "weekly penalty" and "monthly penalty", in relation to an offence, means a penalty for each day, week or month, as the case may be, during which the offence is continued after conviction for the offence;
"financial year" means the period of twelve months beginning on 1st January and ending on 31st December, so however that with respect to the year 1980 it shall be the period of nine months beginning on 1st April and ending on 31st December;
"immovable property" means land;
"inland waters" includes all rivers, creeks and lagoons inside the river bars of Nigeria;
"land" includes any building and any other thing attached to the earth or permanently fastened to any thing so attached, but does not include minerals;
"Law" means any law enacted or having effect as if enacted by the legislature of a State and includes any instrument having the force of law which is made under a Law;
"legal practitioner" has the meaning assigned to it by the Legal Practitioners Act;
[Cap. L11.]
"local authority" means the local authority of a township;
"master", in relation to a ship, means any person other than a pilot or harbour master having for the time being control or charge of the ship;
"military forces" means the armed forces of the Federation and includes any person who is not a member of the last-mentioned forces but who accompanies, or is employed in the service of a body of those forces;
"Minister", where no particular Minister is specified in the context, means the Minister of the government of the Federation charged in pursuance of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with responsibility for the matter to which the context relates;
"monogamous marriage" means a marriage which is recognised by the law of the place where it is contracted as a voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others during the continuance of the marriage;
"month" means a calendar month reckoned according to the Gregorian calendar;
"oath" and "affidavit", in relation to a person authorised by law to make an affirmation or declaration instead of an oath, includes an affirmation or declaration made in accordance with the relevant law, and "swear" shall be construed accordingly;
"person" includes any body of persons corporate or unincorporate;
"police officer" means any member of the police force and "superior police officer" means a police officer of or above the rank of assistant superintendent;
"prescribed" means prescribed by or under the enactment in which the expression occurs;
"public holiday" means a day which is a public holiday under the Public Holidays Act;
[Cap. P40.]
"public officer" means a member of the public service of the Federation within the meaning of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or of the public service of a State;
[Cap.C23.]
"qualified medical practitioner" means a person who is a fully registered medical practitioner within the meaning of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act;
[Cap. M8.]
"regulations", in an enactment passed or made before the passing of this Act, includes rules and bye-laws;
"seaman" includes every person (other than a master, pilot or indentured apprentice) who is employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship;
"ship" includes every description of vessel used in navigation and not exclusively propelled by oars or paddles;
"to sell" includes to exchange and to barter and to offer or expose for sale;
"to sign", in relation to a person who is unable to write his name, means to make his mark;
"territorial waters" means any part of the open sea within thirty nautical miles of the coast of Nigeria (measured from low water mark) or of the seaward limits of inland waters;
"township" means a township established under the Townships Act;
[Cap. 216.1948 Edition]
"vessel" includes floating craft of every description;
"will" includes a codicil;
"writing" and expressions referring to writing include printing, lithography, photography, typewriting and other modes of representing or reproducing words or figures in a visible form; and
"year" means a period of twelve months.
(2) Where by subsection (1) of this section or any other enactment a meaning is assigned to a word, parts of speech related to the word have corresponding meanings.
(3) The word "or" and the word "other" shall, in any enactment, be construed disjunctively and not as implying similarity.
(4)
A reference in an enactment, in relation to any matter, to a Minister or an official described by a designation which-
[1977 No.13.]
(a) under the system of government in force in Nigeria or any part thereof; or
(b) by reason of any change in the organisation of any department or ministry whether or not by the transfer of functions from one ministry or department to another or others,
is no longer appropriate, shall be construed in relation to that matter as a reference to the Minister or, as the case may require, the official for the time being charged with responsibilities for the matter.
(5) A reference in an enactment, in relation to any matter to any ministry or department or other unit of any Government in Nigeria described by a designation which-
(a) under the system of government in Nigeria or any part thereof;
(b) by reason of any change in the organisation of any ministry or department or other unit as aforesaid (including the abolition or the amalgamation of any of them or the creation of new ones),
is no longer appropriate, shall be construed in relation to that matter as a reference to the ministry or department or, as the case may require, to any other unit of any Government in Nigeria for the time being charged with responsibility for the matter.