It should be noted that democracy generally is predicated on the establishment and existence of strong institutions—the executive, legislature, judiciary, political parties, police, press, anti-graft institutions, and so forth—to drive the process. Invariably, democratization as a process enthrones structures that were hitherto not in existence in the state particularly during military rule. The strength or otherwise of any democratic governance is, therefore, a function of the extent to which actors are able to internalize democratic etiquettes and also foster political institutionalization. In this connection, political institutionalization can only be guaranteed when democratic regimes are sustained. By and large, weak institutions are recipe for bad governance.
Political parties in Nigeria are institutionally weak, structurally defective and operationally fragile, and have failed to grow both vertically and horizontally to assume that enviable position of an institution with capacity to uphold the tenets of democracy. Anti-party activities are the order of the day as politicians jostle for power and prepare for the 2023 general elections. The peculiar flaw of Nigeria political parties is lack of ideologies. So, it’s easy to wobble around the various political parties, switching side whenever convenient. You can even stay in one party and be campaigning for candidates of other parties, after all what matters is your personal preferences and not what serves your party. If these politicians cannot abide by party rules, they will never abide by the tenets of good governance.
It’s time we strengthened our parties, enunciating ideological bases to be imbibed by members and followers; administering disciplinary measures to assert party supremacy. Party discipline is one sure way of strengthening the parties, and it is a win-win for all. From the perspective of voters, party discipline makes these organizations more predictable and, in a way, accountable. If the party is playing the role of a broker in political life, it must also be able to ensure that this social function is performed by its members in government. From the perspective of the government, party discipline is one of the major organizational factors that help the administration to manage its work. From the perspective of political parties, internal discipline is one of the central premises of their effectiveness. Finally, from the perspective of an individual political office holder, party discipline may be seen as a reassuring factor, offering a feeling of safety associated with being a part of the influential team.
The ability of any democratic government to deliver the concrete benefits of good governance to the citizens is determined by the smooth functioning of the executive, judiciary and legislative arms of government. However, the quest for good governance in Nigeria has been threatened more by the unending conflicts between the legislature and executive who are often entangled in a constant battle for supremacy and control of the policy making and implementation process, thereby jettisoning the tenets of the principles of separation of powers which clearly states that the three arms of government namely, legislature, executive and judiciary shall be independent of the control of each other.
The legislature in Nigeria has been confronted with the challenge of independence. Since its re-introduction in 1999, the executive has overtly and consistently been interested in who leads both chambers of the National Assembly and state Assemblies. The executive contemplated the need to control the parliament early in the day by imposing their surrogates in the leadership.
There is also the challenge of funding, or put differently, the financial autonomy of the legislature. The financial autonomy of the legislature requires that the funding of this branch of government should be placed on first line charge, to enable the legislature carry out its activities without let or hindrance. In this connection, the legislature would not have to depend on the executive arm for funding as has been the case in most states. The situation where the legislature depends entirely on the executive branch for the execution of its own programmes is not healthy for political institutionalization of this arm of government.
Achieving good governance requires the existence of a strong, effective and efficient parliament. The establishment of state Assemblies Service Commission as stipulated in sections 51 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution is very fundamental since the independence of the legislature cannot be discussed outside the framework of having an effective Assembly Service Commission. The Assembly Service Commission guarantees security of tenure for staff of the legislature and insulates them from the unwarranted postings of trained work force from the legislature to the executive, where the skills already acquired are not required. Unfortunately, only NASS and a very few states have been able to achieve this feet. In some states where this bill has been passed into law, such Commissions are yet to be established by the executive.
It must be established that the judiciary in Nigeria and elsewhere is the third branch of government saddled with the responsibility of defending and upholding the constitution, while providing sanctity to the rule of law. Constitutionalism and sanctity of the rule of law principle is germane to effective governance, and security of life and property. The rule of law, underpinned by an independent judicial system, implies a functional legal framework that helps to ensure settlement of conflicts between the state and individuals on the one hand and among individuals or groups on the other. It also helps to ensure respect for property rights and contracts, while preventing the government and influential individuals from acting capriciously.
The scourge of corruption has overtime been described as one of the most discussed causes of under-development in Nigeria. But much cause for concern, is the weakness of the justice sector delivery system, the pervading low integrity of the judiciary, which is only an aspect of the justice system, has suffered greatly due to the alleged despicable acts of some members of the bench who most times collude with the bar to weaken the law thereby allowing corruption to grow on fertile ground.
The Nigerian Bar Association should establish a monitoring mechanism to check abuse of court process by legal practitioners. The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee should be empowered to discipline even those considered as the sacred cows.
Beyond the tripartite division of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary checks and balances is the need to engender a reliable, consistent and transparent civil society. The power of the citizenry to checkmate the preponderance of the executive and legislators lies primarily in a unifying public opinion.
- Onovo writes from Plot 18 Whitesand Avenue, Lekki, Lagos. Tel: 08184553078, Email: jekwuonovo@gmail.com