Abstract
Legislative oversight in any democracy is essential to limiting the exercise of power and ensuring the accountability of government. This chapter reports the findings of an empirical study into legislative oversight in Nigeria with particular emphasis on the National Assembly’s oversight of the anti-corruption framework. Based on interviewer-led and self-administered questionnaires completed by 48 respondents in early 2016/17, our research reveals that Parliament is still seen as part of the problem of corruption in Nigeria despite the presence of a number of oversight tools at its disposal.
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Notes
- 1.
The genesis of corruption in Nigeria has been traced back to the era of colonialism, when the ruling class exploited their people, under the protection of the British (Oluyitan 2015, p. 15). Other writers have argued that successive military regimes ensured the total corruption of Nigeria’s political and social institutions of the country and eroded institutional accountability (e.g.Fashagba 2009).
- 2.
This discrepancy reflects the difference between actual impeachment and threats of impeachment. Over the last 5 years there have been threats of impeachment against both President Goodluck Jonathan (because of non-implementation of the 2012 budget) and President Buhari (because of a proposed trial of the Senate leadership for forgery). One of the concerns raised by participants is that threats of impeachment are more a reflection of fraught executive-legislative relations and divisions within NASS than consideration as to whether the president’s actions constitute gross misconduct.
- 3.
Nigeria’s score of 24 out of 100 in 2015, although an increase from 2012, is substantially lower than the global average score of 45 and also compares poorly with its regional neighbours (IBP 2015).
- 4.
While the Federal Executive Council is mandated to sign and ratify treaties, the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly are constitutionally charged with the responsibility of enacting or domesticating them into law.
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Staddon, A. (2020). Nigeria’s National Assembly Seen as Part of the Problem. In: Stapenhurst, R., Draman, R., Larson, B., Staddon, A. (eds) Anti-Corruption Evidence. Studies in Public Choice, vol 34. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14140-0_4
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