Nigeria: Government InstitutionsAP Comparative Government

Institutions While the constitution states that the government is a federal

political system with national, local, and state levels, the government is really run in a unitary manner The government has 3 branches (executive, legislative, and

judicial) but the executive has the most power in terms of creating legislation

Each of the 36 states have an executive and legislative branch, and local courts Currently neither checks and balances operate and state and

local governments are totally dependent on the central government

Executive In 1979, Nigeria’s parliamentary system was replaced by a

presidential system This happened due to the intense fracturing within Parliament

The U.S. presidential model was followed until a coup in 1983 Major-General Muhammadu Buhari staged a coup and won

He was ousted in 1985 by General Babangida and he was ousted in 1993 by General Abacha

In 1999 Nigeria returned to presidential rule where Obasanjo was elected in 99 and 03

Under military rule All 7 military leaders promised a transition to democracy

Only two, General Obasanjo and Abubakar, actually gave up power to civilians Buhari and Babangida were extremely repressive

The president has always appointed officials without any approval

The generals have ruled under a system of patrimonialism The president is the head of an intricate patron-client system and

dispenses government jobs and resources as rewards to supporters These means that all senior positions are filled through patronage

Bureaucracy The Nigerian’s adopted the British system of Bureaucracy

from the time they were colonized The system is corrupt and bribery is common and jobs are

awarded through the patron-client system, or prebendalism The Nigerian government agencies are actually para-statals,

These are corporations owned by the state and designated to provide commercial and social welfare services Para-statals provide water, electricity, public transportation, and

agricultural subsidies Para-statals are a form of state corporatism

These organizations are generally poorly run and extremely inefficient

Legislature Nigeria has a bicameral legislature known as the National

Assembly Both representatives and senators serve four-year renewable terms

and elections are held the week before the presidential election The Senate has 109 members, 3 from each state and one from

the capital They are elected directly by popular vote

The House of Representatives has 360 members from single-member districts They are elected by plurality and represented many different ethnicities

In 2011 only 13 representatives were women as were only 4 of the 109 senators

Legislature When under military control, the legislature had almost no

power Under civilian control, the legislature has only recently become

effective in checking the presidents power This can be seen in stopping Obasanjo from amending the constitution

to allow himself to run for president a third time Those elected to office have been widely tied to political

corruption

Judiciary Early in Nigerian independence, the judiciary had great independence

They were known as rendering objective decisions and for operating independently from the executive

Military rule greatly changed the judiciary Judicial review was suspended and the president’ friends were appointed as

judges Very few are well versed in law and render decisions to manipulate the government

Today the judiciary is supposed to interpret law based upon the constitution They are also required to follow sharia standards

In 2007, a tribunal was created to hear accusations about voting fraud They have the power to remove officials from their positions but the bar for

proving guilt is incredibly high

Military The military has lost its creditability as a temporary, objective

organization that keeps order and stability This is because of their massive involvement in the political

corruption of Nigeria There is a distinction between “military in government” and

“military in barracks” The military is one of the few organizations that is national in

character The military has always been there to restore order in times of crisis The military is the best way to attain social promotion