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historical and analytical approaches through the use of primary and secondary documents as contained in published and unpublished materials.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
The Nigerian National Assembly and the Oversight of Constituency Fund (Published)
Given that legislature possess power to provide constituency services, an understanding of this function is instrumental in appraising constituency fund with respect to legislative oversight. While different nomenclatures of constituency fund exist across national cases (Pork Barrel in the United States, Constituency Development Fund in Zambia), a defining feature of its operation in Nigeria opens a vacuum to be filled to ensure probity in the management of the fund. Drawing on a desk review interviews from key respondents on the one hand, and data from BudgIT reports on federal constituency projects in Nigeria on the other hand, this study examines the framework for the operation of constituency fund and analyze the extent of utilization of constituency fund in Nigeria. The study explores the use of oversight tools for effective management of constituency fund. Findings from the study showed that the modalities involved in the operation of constituency fund in Nigeria permit corruption and embezzlement of fund to hold sway. Findings also suggest relevant oversight tools such as routine oversight, audit queries etc. capable of ensuring proper and actual implementation of constituency fund.
Keywords: Legislature, constituency fund, constituency project, national assembly, oversight
Immunities and Tenures of Office in the Three Arms of Government in Nigeria: Legal Perspective (Published)
The Nigerian 1999 Constitution clearly recognises and upholds the principle of the separation of power and the need to ensure that each arm of the government operates within the purview permitted by law. Thus, to ensure that each arm of government discharges its functions effectively, the Constitution or existing enactments further provide for their immunities and tenures of office of the members of the executive, legislature as well as the judiciary. The intention of this article is to critically examine from the legal angle the scope and extent of the immunities granted to office holders in the three arms of government as well as the security of their appointments.
Keywords: Constitution, Executive, Immunity, Judicial Officer, Legislature, Tenure of Office