Modeling Separation For Constitutionalism: The Nigerian Approach (original) (raw)
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Separation of Powers Under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution: The Core Legal Dilemmas
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Separation of powers is a hallowed constitutional principle of the democratic government of Nigeria for the three arms of government to stay in their assigned tracks to avoid arbitrary excesses by any of the arms. The ideal is that the legislature makes the law; the executive executes the law, while the judiciary interprets the law. In recent times, the president of Nigeria churns out Executive Orders in the form of ‘laws seeking to regulate the activities of the government and the people. Similarly, agencies of the federal government have been found wanting in this act. This paper thus revisits the doctrine of separation of powers in Nigeria with a view to justifying its practice and an examination of the emerging trends of Executive Order and independence of the judiciary. The paper finds that the practice of separation of powers is on course in Nigeria despite some pockets of arbitrariness and concludes that adherence to the principles of separation of powers remains a sine qua n...
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS AND ALLIED ISSUES, 2021
Today, all the Constitutional systems in the world might not be opting for the strict separation of powers because that is undesirable and impracticable but implications of this concept can be seen in almost all the countries in its diluted form. It is widely accepted that for a political system to be stable, the holders of power need to be balanced off against each other. The principle of separation of powers deals with the mutual relations among the three organs of the government, namely legislature, executive and judiciary. This doctrine tries to bring exclusiveness in the functioning of the three organs and hence a strict demarcation of power is the aim sought to be achieved by this principle. This doctrine signifies the fact that one person or body of persons should not exercise all the three powers of the government. The doctrine was popularized by Baron de Montesquieu. It was wholly embraced under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and the principles have been imbibed into the legal tradition of Nigeria. The following questions emanate from this: what is the origin of the doctrine of separation of powers? How has the doctrine been used in the Nigeria? What is the position of the doctrine in Nigeria? What is the future of the doctrine of separation of powers especially with the nascent challenges to our democratic practices? Can the principles be made more effective to promote efficiency in governance? These are the questions which this paper seeks to answer and provide workable solutions to.
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This long essay examines the doctrine of separation of powers under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a view to critically assessing the challenges facing same in Nigeria. The doctrine has been adopted in most democratic States as an important device against autocratic, arbitrary and the over use of government power, be it by the executive, the legislature or the judiciary. The researcher adopting doctrinal analysis discovered that a water-tight application of the doctrine is not possible. It is in recognition of this fact that the founders of the doctrine of separation of powers developed the principle of checks and balances which empowers each arm of government to serve as a check on the others to ensure that they do not go out of their constitutionally assigned roles. The researcher also discovered that the principle of checks and balances is the root cause of the challenges facing the separation of powers in Nigeria and went further to make recommendations germane to the effective application of the doctrine in Nigeria.
British Journal of Education, 2016
Nigeria is a nation with a chequered history of democratic rule. The pressures mounted on the Nigerian political system since independence created instability in Nigerian polity. Hence the Judiciary could not carryout its roles effectively, the First, Second and Third Republics collapsed thus, paved way for the inevitability of military incursions in Nigerian politics, which truncated the Nigerian nascent democracy. Studies have shown that, in a democratic state, separation of powers is indispensable and the independence of the judiciary is paramount in achieving sustainable democracy. This study therefore investigated the impact of the separation of powers in achieving sustainable democracy in Nigeria State. The study used qualitative and content analysis method in analyzing the information generated for the study. Cases and instances from the content analysis showed that: the independence of the Judiciary helps in achieving sustainable democracy in Nigeria; Independent Judiciary enhances due process in a democratic state. Further analysis showed that incidences and court verdicts on issues relating to how the practice of separation of powers enhances the Judiciary to discharge its constitutionally stipulated roles in achieving sustainable democracy in Nigeria is convincing. This work therefore concluded that separation of powers enhances the efficiency of the Judiciary in Nigeria. The researchers recommend that the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria will depend on the commitment and ability of the Nigeria State to take extra measures to ensure that the theory and practice of Separation of Powers, and the Independence of the Judiciary is firmly established, respected and protected.
Separation of power is gradually fading in emerging democracy in Nigeria
Nigeria as a countryis bedeviled by the problem of bad governance, attributed to the conflicts of the executive and legislative arms of government. Scholars have advocated several factors as responsible for this trend. This paper takes a critical look at the Executive and Legislative Conflict in Nigerian government as a makeup cause of bad governance that does not promote development. It considers the key factors responsible for this phenomenon and also analyses the implication of this problem for the political development, and the efforts of thegovernment to entrench the respect for the constitution in Nigeria.
Constitutionalism in Nigeria: Politics and Law in an Emerging African Democracy
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C omplaints of lack of single comprehensive texts to aid learning and research by students, in the thirty years that I have taught courses on Constitutional Law and Developments in the 'Siamese Twins' disciplines of Political Science and Law across f ive universities and a research institute in Nigeria, provided the needed impetus and inspiration to write and complete this book. Its preparation had stayed for so long in conception and implementation in view of the ever-dynamic nature of the subject-matter and the fast-changing pace of constitutional developments in Nigeria. The demands have always been for a book that covers the different phases of Nigerian constitutional developments, while at the same time exposing students and other readers to the historical and theoretical foundations of the main constitutional ideas, doctrines and principles that underlie the provisions of the various constitutions. My idea of the teaching and study of constitutional developments, whether in the discipline of Law or Political Science, is that no proper understanding of issues, events and case developments can be had unless students, practitioners and casual readers have deep theoretical grounding of the basic ideas and traditions that come into serious considerations whenever issues bordering on constitutions and constitutional developments are thrown up for discussions. In my humble view, there can be no proper understanding of such common provisions of the Nigerian Constitutional Law on issues of federal-state relations, fundamental human rights, separation of powers, fundamental objectives and directive principles, independence of the judiciary, federal character, derivation, electoral law and practices, political party systems, etc., without an excursion, howbeit brief, into the philosophical foundations or theoretical underpinnings of the origin and developments of the ideas across ages, cultures and geography. Also, there can be no complete understanding of contemporary developments on Nigerian constitutionalism without some basic knowledge of the historical and other contextual factors that shaped and are shaping legal and political developments. The sheer size of the bourgeoning literature on Nigerian government and politics necessarily saddles the teachers and students of constitutional law and political developments with the arduous task of scanning too many materials and attempting to reconcile many contending paradigms to keep abreast of the leading discourses on the subject matter. While this may be a natural course for a teacher who is used to such exercise as an academic, intellectual or analyst, such an exercise may not be suited to student beginners and casual readers who seek some basic understanding, in both spread and depth, of the principles, ideas and developments of the Nigerian constitutional law and politics. There are a few noteworthy authoritative texts of signif icance in the f ield, x I thank these and several others who have made this publication possible. But I take full responsibility for any def iciencies or errors contained therein.
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This book examines one of the critical measures introduced by African constitutional designers in their attempts to entrench an ethos of constitutionalism on the continent. Taking a critical look at the different ways in which attempts have been made to separate the different branches of government, the book examines the impact this is having on transparent and accountable governance. Beginning with an overview of constitutionalism in Africa and the different influences on modern African constitutional developments, it looks at the relationship between the legislature and the executive as well as the relationship between the judiciary and the political branches. Despite differences in approaches between the various constitutional cultures that have influenced developments in Africa, there remain common problems. One of these problems is the constant friction in the relationship between the three branches and the resurgent threats of authoritarianism which clearly suggest that there ...
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The paper examined governance in Nigeria since 1914, and look at how the executive, legislatures, and the judiciary operate in the country, indeed, the three arms of government are believing to operate as a watchdog to each other. This study is qualitative, the researcher obtained all the relevant and related data from the documented material, the research designed for this paper is a case study approach, it also helps in providing an in-depth understanding of a case where the researcher digs deeply into a phenomenon in obtaining the related literature. To support the paper the researcher adopted pluralism theory to explain the write-up. The postulation of the theory is to examine political actions in modern democratic states. The study found that the northern and the southern region were amalgamated by the British administration for their personal and economic gain, without considering the complex nature heterogeneity nature of the nation. This has created several problems across the nation. Therefore, the study recommended that for peaceful democratic governance all the three arms of government shall have autonomous power to discharge their constitutional responsibilities. No, any arm shall exercise the powers of the other. Again, for Nigeria to live in peace and harmony, and to attain national and economic development there is a need to accept the principle of unity of purpose. ARTICLE INFORMATION
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