This book explores the politics associated with the exercise of the legislative power of impeachment as intended by the drafters of the Constitution in Nigeria. It interrogates the exercise of the power of impeachment with reference to the intended purpose and examines its failures in the cases of impeachment in the country. It analyzes the interplay of power in the governing institutions in Nigeria’s political system, which involved the understanding of a web of interactions among elites within a political structure relating with others outside its sphere of operation. It presents an analysis of the politics associated with impeachment within the framework of the activities of different political actors operating in different political structures assigned to perform certain statutory roles in the political system. The book shows how the selective use of impeachment provisions as instrument of political vendetta and harassment has weakened the potency of this oversight power of the legislature thereby engendering accountability problem in the Nigerian presidential system.
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - General and Theories of International Politics, grade: 63/100, University of Jos, course: Law, language: English, abstract: The ultimate aim of this paper is to critically analyse comparatively the concept of impeachment and its procedures in Nigeria and the United States of America. The essence of this work can only be achieved through a comparative approach. The aim of the comparison is fully encapsulated in the opinion of some writers. The objectives of this long essay are: To understand the procedure of impeachment and the attitude of the judiciary towards impeachment in Nigeria and in the United States of America. To bring to bear the inadequacies in the procedure of impeachment in both Nigeria and the United States of America. To compare both countries with the aim of improving their individual procedure of impeachment. Proffer solutions to the problems discovered in the course of the research. An executive officer leaves office not only at the expiration of his tenure, or his death, or incapacitation as it is the ideal, but also upon impeachment. Impeachment is another potent and unusual way of removing an executive officer. However, impeachment which is supposed to be an instrument to check the excesses of executive officers in the hands of the legislature has become a tool in the hands of political parties and politicians to remove from office an executive officer who is from another political party or who is not a "loyalist". This practice is more peculiar to Nigeria where impeachment has become a tool for settling political scores. This therefore amounts to an abuse of the power of impeachment conferred on the legislature. This underscores the essence of this research because a comparative analysis of the procedure for impeachment in Nigeria and the United States of America will expose the lapses in both legal systems and proffer solutions to such lapses. These lapses are the problem this research work intends to resolve. This research work intends to answer the following questions: What does impeachment entail in Nigeria and the United States of America? Who can be impeached in Nigeria and the United States of America? What is the procedure for impeachment in Nigeria and the United States of America? What are the differences in the procedure for impeachment in Nigeria and the United States of America? How can this procedure be breached? Should there be differences, will that amount to a gap? And which is the standard for impeachment to establish the basis for amending the other?
The effective division of powers is critical to ensuring the promotion of good governance, democracy, and the rule of law in Africa. This book examines key issues arising during reforms of African constitutions, and focuses on the emergence of independent constitutional institutions providing checks against future abuses of powers.
This book argues that the structure of the policy-making process in Nigeria explains variations in government performance better than other commonly cited factors.
Nigeria is mired in a crisis of governance. For decades, Nigeria's governing elite have been widely implicated in acts of violence, corruption and electorial fraud so pervasive as to resemble criminal activity more han democratic governance. Not only has Nigeria's federal government failed to hold these politicians to account, but Nigeria's system of politics has actively rewarded corruption and violence with control governorships, parliamentary seats and other positions of public trust.
This book is a completely revised merger of both volumes 1 and 2 of Constitutional Law in Nigeria previously published. It deals with the various principles of constitutional law and fundamental human rights as contained in the 1999 constitution, though f
