Oversight Functions of the Legislature and The Roles of the Judiciary in Nigeria: The Challenges for The Rule of Law (Published)
The ultimate objective of the oversight function of the legislature is to promote accountability, transparency and responsiveness on the part of the executive and by extension checks and balance it public actions. On the other hand, the constitution vests the judiciary as the third organ inter alia with the powers to interpret and apply all laws in the country in relation to both criminal and civil matters and disputes between individuals, groups, and political authorities as well as between one state and the federal government in a federal system. It is against this backdrop that this article examined the oversight functions of the legislature and the roles of the judiciary in Nigeria and the challenge it may constitute to rule of law. This paper argued that the legislative oversight function constitutes an important source of suspicion and conflicts, particularly between the legislature and the executive. Therefore, the judiciary that is supposed to serve as an impartial arbiter is incapacitated to serve the interest of the executive in several instances. This paper adopts historical and analytical approaches through the use of primary and secondary documents as contained in published and unpublished materials. The paper concludes and recommends that rule of law and democracy can flourish effectively and efficiently only if the capacity of legislatures is strengthened to address critical issues relating to constitutionalism, corruption, poverty, check the excesses of the executive, and collaborate with the judiciary to avert the consequences of democracy by court order.
Citation: Raji Adesina Abdulfattah, Abiola Adekunle Saheed and Shittu-Adenuga Zaynab Omotoyosi (2022) Oversight Functions of the Legislature and The Roles of the Judiciary in Nigeria: The Challenges for The Rule of Law, Global Journal of Politics and Law Research, Vol.10, No.4, pp.59-70
Keywords: Balance, Democracy, Judiciary, Legislature, rule of law and checks
Head: A Perfect Storm: Covid-19, Snap Elections, and Archaic Legal Framework (Published)
The Covid-19 pandemic has tremendous implications for democracy worldwide. Emergency measures undertaken to combat the pandemic tend to demonstrate a trade-off between public health and fundamental democratic principles. The Caribbean is not immune from this. This paper examines how Covid-19, and the calling of a snap election in Barbados scheduled for January 19, 2022, when combined with archaic election rules, led to serious implications for the conduct of the election, specifically regarding the ability of citizens to vote. The paper is divided into five sections, beginning with an introductory section. The second section examines the implications of Covid-19 for democratic participation. The third section explores the legal framework for the conduct of elections in Barbados and the limitations of that legal framework. The penultimate section discusses the implications of the snap election for electoral participation and electoral integrity. The paper ends on the need for electoral reform in the country.
Citation: Cynthia Barrow-Giles and Rico Yearwood (2022) Head- A Perfect Storm- Covid-19, Snap Elections, and Archaic Legal Framework, Global Journal of Politics and Law Research, Vol.10, No.4, pp.40-57
Keywords: Barbados, COVID-19, Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC)
The Reality of Sovereignty in Nigeria from 1999 to 2019 and the Implications For Democracy (Published)
The year 2019 marks two decades of the Nigeria’s democratic governance which in Nigeria Political parlance is referred to as the fourth republic. The first republic which started on the attainment of independence in 1960 was truncated by the military in 1966 and from that time till the 29th of May, 1999 when the military was coerced to relinquish power, Nigeria did not pretend in her clamour for democracy .The democratically elected government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979-1984) was equally overthrown by the military in Nigeria. From Independence in 1960 to 1999, a period of 39 years, Nigeria had eight military head of state in government for a total of twenty-nine (29) years with only two civilian head of states. The compass of this present democratic experience midwifed by the 1999 Constitution is that Sovereignty belongs to the people. The reality of the sovereignty is the focus of this study. The study revealed that the actual voters in Nigeria with a population of over two hundred million people are the judges and not the people .That judges are the determinant of the representatives of people is anachronistic considering the fact that the judges in Nigeria are guided by their idiosyncrasies and not logic in their role as the interpreter of law and adjudicator.
Keywords: Democracy, Logic, Sovereignty., electorate
Immunity of the Legal Order to Covid-19 Infection: The Response of the Albanian Legal Order to the Infection (Published)
The scope of this article is the analysis of the situation created by the Coronavirus which has been a risk to the health of the humans and at the same time has affected the legal systems in a country. In addition, this article will try to highlight likewise in the whole World, the same way the Albanian legal system is caught eminently unprepared to respond and protect “the right to health” and consequently the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation of the pandemic in addition of being a great test for the human immunity, seems to have done the same for the ‘immunity” of legal systems in general and the Albanian system, on which the study will be focused mainly. Although the legal system provided for exceptional measures to respond to the situation in a subtle way in respect to fundamental rights, the Albanian government in particular and governments around the World seem to have been disoriented and have lost the thread to react in a natural way in respect to the provisions of the legal order in response to the Covid-19 and respect for individual rights of health with dignity. This disorientation of the government actions towards the response to the situation seemed to be ineffective and contagious like the virus itself. The situation of Covid-19 infection has begun to be managed through the law that regulates infections and infectious diseases, adopting various secondary regulations in accordance with this law. Thus, in Albania, the Government has made legislative interventions through the decree laws, to tighten the administrative sanctions against people who did not respect the “lockdown”. This legislation was followed by the proclamation of the state of emergency throughout the Albanian territory. The state of emergency is foreseen in the Albanian, obviously taking into account the proportionality of the reaction to the danger. In this context, the article intends to make a detailed analysis considering some comparative aspects, and as regards the proportionality of the measures adopted by the Albanian government. It will be highlighted moreover the principle of proportionality in the state of emergency, the inclusion of the non-compliance with government instruction towards prevention of the spread of Covid-19 as criminal offences in a state of emergency as a guaranty for the right to health.
Keywords: Democracy, criminal code, health right, infection Covid-19, law order
The Impact of Human Rights on Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Nigeria (Published)
Human rights and good governance are the salient elements of a well-functioning state and society. They are also mutually reinforced; for human rights principles provide a set of values to guide the work of government and other political and social actors. Good governance on the other hand is a key to sustainable development and without good governance human rights cannot be respected in a sustainable manner. The three concepts thus work hand in hand. However in countries like Nigeria where democracy and rule of law have not been fully nurtured the move towards implementing human rights and good governance principles into the daily functioning of state institutions can be a huge challenge. The probability that a nation will achieve the aims of sustainable development and participative democracy are all the greater if human rights are respected. The aim of this article is to ascertain the level of observance of respect of the human rights in Nigeria by the government authorities and other social actors and the impact such observance or otherwise has on governance and development in Nigeria. It is observed that though the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) makes an elaborate provision on human right, and that Nigeria has acceded to numerous international instruments on human rights, the problem of bad governance with the resultant inadequate development has a link with failure of the authorities that be, to adequately appreciate the requirements of human rights and apply them in governance. Furthermore a lot of the basic human rights as contained in Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution are not enforceable, thus failure of the authorities to observe them cannot be questioned. It is advocated.
Keywords: Democracy, Good Governance, Government, Human Rights, Sustainable Development
Vote in Brazil and General Elections 2018: Are the Pillars of Democracy in Danger (Published)
In one of the most controversial and disputed general elections in Brazil, more than 147 million voters will choose their representatives, on October 2018. For the first time in the Brazilian democratic government history, the far-right wing candidate, was attacked and stabbed in the middle of a campaign rally. Also unprecedented was the initiative of the former Brazilian left wing president, Lula da Silva, convicted and sentenced to 12-year imprisonment for money laundering and passive corruption, who was disputing the presidency from jail. In a democracy, however, no matter how fierce a presidential election is, any differences shall be resolved through vote. Therefore, given its importance to democracy, in this article we investigated the history of the vote in Brazil, from paper-based to electronic suffrage. We analyzed the different past voting systems, until the general elections 2018, where biometric identification was included successfully. Current facts and figures are presented in this single case study. Finally, recommendations for future research complete the present work.
Keywords: Democracy, General Elections, Vote
DEMOCRACY AND THE COST OF GOVERNANCE: THE NEED FOR NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS PARADIGM IN NIGERIA (Published)
The paper identified globalization as the free-market induced paradigm that brought about the desire to cut the cost of running governments all over the world, and subsequently influenced the emergence of the New Public Management Administrative Reform Paradigm in Britain, USA, Austria, New Zealand and Nigeria in 2003. The paper further traced the development of Public Administration down to New Public Administration; identify and compared the Traditional Administration with the New Public Management. In addition, tables containing the statutory allocations to the National Assembly of Nigeria from 2005 to 2013; the Law Makers Salaries and Allowances; the List of Federal Ministers and their salaries and allowances were conspicuously displayed. Finally, the paper recommended that there is the need for a drastic reduction in the cost of running all the tiers of governments in Nigeria; the salaries and allowances of Legislators, Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Assistants; a reduction in the number of Federal Ministers to twenty together with the need to abolish the position of the Minister of State because the Federal Ministers can ably be assisted by their respective Permanent Secretaries.
Keywords: Administrative Reforms, Cost Of Governance, Democracy, New Public Management, Nigeria
Clash of Cultures: The Interface between Islam and the West (Published)
The struggle for cultural supremacy is not only a fact of history but also an observable phenomenon of social existence. Perhaps, the frenzied defence of cultural identity is second only to the expression of territorial nationalism. Contemporary cultures of which Islam is a resilient part are engaged in a ceaseless war of survival. Following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, Islam has come under intense scrutiny. What has followed is a feverish commitment to the obliteration of Islamic values at home and abroad and the intensification of the scheme to enthrone western culture. This raises many legal, constitutional and sociological questions as well as questions relating to the place of Islamic culture both on the international arena and within the Nigerian jurisdiction. The paper is dedicated both to defining the place of Islamic culture vis-a-vis freedom of conscience and the constitutional safeguards in place against the prejudices that confront Islamic civilisation.
Keywords: Civilisation, Culture, Democracy, Government, Ideology, Law, Religion.