The Legislature in Nigeria's Presidential Democracy of the Fourth Republic - Power, Process, and Development

This book investigates whether legislative institutions, state and national, in Nigeria's Fourth Republic have been able to harness constitutional powers to impact public policy. Presenting how the Nigerian state has not been able to showcase the expected dividends of presidential democracy since 1999, it analyzes the crisis of governance and its impact on political stability, social cohesion, and the livelihood of citizens. 
The book further discusses the depreciating infrastructure, corruption, and mismanagement of public resources, and shows how defiant attitudes of public political and bureaucratic officials define the new wave of corruption and profligacy in Nigeria, presenting this development as a result of a weakened legislature. The book displays the necessity of implementing a culture of accountability and discusses oversight mechanisms to make the executive accountable. These mechanisms are designed to ensure effective public service delivery. Finally, the book situates the legislative institutions in Nigeria within the context of the contributions of the National Assembly and the Assemblies of the State Houses to the development of this emerging democracy in Africa.  
The book will appeal to students and scholars of political science and public administration, as well as policy-makers and practitioners interested in a better understanding of democracy, separation of powers, governance, and Nigerian politics.

List of contents

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Legislature in a Presidential System: Structure, functions and expectations.- Chapter 3. The Historical Overview of the Evolution of the Legislature in Nigeria.- Chapter 4. Legislative Oversight as Accountability Mechanism: The Nigerian Perspective.- Chapter 5. The Politics of Legislative Investigations in Nigeria's National Assembly in the Fourth Republic.- Chapter 6. The Legislature and Social Development in Nigeria, 2015-2019.- Chapter 7. Representative democracy, political disengagement, and young people's perceptions of legislators in Nigeria.- Chapter 8. Corruption and Executive Interference in Legislative Oversight in Nigeria's Fourth Republic.- Chapter 9. Constituency Projects in Nigeria's 8^th National Assembly, 2015-2019.- Chapter 10. Nigeria's Presidential System and the Vicissitudes of Executive-Legislative Conflicts in the Fourth Republic.- Chapter 11. Party Affiliation and Law-making Efficiency: A Study of the Seventh andEighth Nigerian National Assemblies.- Chapter 12. Comparing the 'New' and 'Old' Regimes of Legislative-Executive Relations and its Implications in Governance: Evidence from Osun State.- Chapter 13. Nigerian Presidentialism and legislative decadence in the Fourth Republic, 2015-2021.- Chapter 14. Legislative Turnover in Nigeria's Fourth Republic: Issues and Implications.- Chapter 15. The Legislature, the Rule of Law and Impeachment in Nigeria's Fourth Republic.- Chapter 16. The Legislature, Subnational Governments and Child's Education Rights in Nigeria's Fourth Republic.- Chapter 17. Constitutional Underpinnings of Partisanship and Consensus Building in Nigeria's National Assembly.- Chapter 18. Two Decades of Legislative Activities in Nigeria's Fourth Republic: Issues, Challenges, and the Way Forward.

About the author

¿Omololu Fagbadebo is a Research Associate and a Lecturer at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Previously, he taught Political Science at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was Press Secretary to the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Nigeria, 1999-2003. Fagbadebo participated in the Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) on American Politics and Political Thought Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, in 2010. His research focuses on comparative politics, legislative studies, public governance, development studies, public institutions, and African government and politics. His book publications include Public Procurement, Corruption and the Crisis of Governance in Africa (2021), co-edited with Prof. Nirmala Dorasamy, published by Palgrave Macmillan; Democratic Practicesand Governance in Nigeria (2021), co-edited with two other colleagues, published by Routledge; Impeachment in the Nigerian Presidential System: Challenges, Successes and the Way Forward (2020), published by Palgrave Macmillan; and Perspectives on the Legislature and the Prospects of Accountability in Nigeria and South Africa (2019), co-edited with Prof. Fayth Ruffin, published by Springer International Publishing. 

Mojeed Olujinmi A. Alabi is a governance expert, legal practitioner, and dual faculty Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Okuku Campus and Professor in the Department of Public Law at the Ifetedo Campus, both of the Osun State University, Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and PhD in Law from the University of Leicester, UK. Alabi was Speaker of the Osun State House Assembly (May 1999 - May 2003) and a Member of the House of Representatives(June 2015 - June 2019). Between 2008 and 2010, he served as an Expert in Good Governance, Ethics and Professionalism in the Public Sector and Head, Parliamentary Capacity Building Programme of the Centre Africain de Formation et de Recherche Administratives pour le Developpement (CAFRAD), based in Tangiers, the Kingdom of Morocco. Alabi also worked for the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abuja, Nigeria. His research and consultancy activities focus on the reform of governance institutions, particularly on the role of the judiciary and the legislature in facilitating good governance. He is the author of The Supreme Court in the Nigerian Political System 1963-1997 (2002), ECOWAS Court and Regional Integration in West Africa (2016), and Constitutionalism in Nigeria: Politics and Law in an Emerging African Democracy (2022). He is co-author of Perspectives on the Legislature in the Government of Nigeria (2010) and editor of Unbroken Legacy of Service: Speaker Bello's Twelve Years under Three Administrations in Osun State (2011), among various journal papers and book chapters.

Product details

• Assisted by: Mojeed Olujinmi A. Alabi (Editor), Omololu Fagbadebo (Editor), Olujinmi A Alabi (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.04.2024
• EAN: 9783031246975
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3124697-5
• No. of pages: 269
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 15 mm x 235 mm
• Weight: 435 g
• Illustrations: XIV, 269 p. 1 illus.
• Series: Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science