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historical and analytical approaches through the use of primary and secondary documents as contained in published and unpublished materials.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
