Perspectives On The Legislature And The Prospects Of Accountability In Nigeria And South Africa

This book examines the problem of accountability in two African political systems, South Africa and Nigeria. Despite the principle of separation of powers and the doctrine of checks and balances among the institutions of governance, a burgeoning governance crisis stifles the potential of accountability and good governance. Legislative oversight in the two countries remains largely ineffective while citizens are left to face the consequences of the mismanagement of public resources by political elites. This book critically assesses how the legislative institutions in South Africa and Nigeria have been unable to harness the requisite constitutional powers to ensure accountability in government and explores the feasibility of their effectiveness. The book begins with a comparative analysis of the principles, tradition, and powers associated with legislative capability in South Africa and Nigeria. The chapters explore constitutional provisions and analyze the capacity of each legislature to function within its respective political environment. The book also examines the process and challenges associated with the various measures and mechanisms available for legislatures to ensure accountability in the two countries. Researchers, scholars and students of African politics will find this book useful in their understanding of the problems associated with the simmering governance crisis in South Africa and Nigeria.

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.

This book presents a holistic perspective and analysis of democratic practice, processes, and governance in South Africa. It examines the development in the South African governing system and its response to the challenges of the crisis of governance under the influence of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). While doing so, the book's central objective is to examine the progress of the South African government in strengthening democracy and political governance. Each of the contributions follows a similar structure and addresses the following thematic issues: (1) Assessment of the implementation of the core APRM-related programs; (2) Identification of areas of excellence and prognosis for further improvement; (3) Identification of the weak areas of each and how to make the future implementation better, (4) Identification areas to improve democracy and political governance. A self-assessment strategy initiated by the African Union (AU) in 2002 and adopted in 2003, the APRM is a voluntary mechanism adopted by countries in the African continent to improve governance in general. As a specialized AU agency, APRM monitors the peer review activities of each African country. It serves as a tool for sharing experiences, reinforcing best practices, identifying deficiencies, and assessing capacity-building needs to foster policies, standards, and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development, and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration. This book will be useful for and appeal to scholars and researchers in political science, public administration, and the social sciences in general, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of democratic practice and processes, governance, public policy, and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

While current efforts to increase transparency and accountability in the management of natural resources emphasize the roles and responsibilities of a broad range of actors, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential contribution of elected legislators. Yet, the three core functions of legislative bodies - representing constituent interests, making or shaping public policy, and overseeing policy implementation by executive branch agencies - are central to any effort in this area. This report is an effort to help elected political officials - particularly those in the legislative branch of government - serve as constructive leaders in improving the oversight and management of their countries' natural resources.

This book establishes a nexus between corruption in public procurement and the prevailing crisis of governance in Africa. The African continent is characterised by the growing concern for the deteriorating human security. In the midst of these woes, African political leaders are known for their stupendous wealth and riches through expropriation of national resources for personal benefits. This growing inequality in the continent has become a major driver for a series of violent and criminal activities, which have added to the worsening governance crisis. Thus, the abuse of public power for advancing private gain constitutes an impediment to effective public service delivery, thereby engendering a crisis of governance. The consequence of this is not limited to the socio-economic growth and welfare of citizens, but it often also jeopardizes the democratic credentials and objectives of the state.

This book examines the challenges confronting the practice of democracy and governance in Nigeria. The book examines the theoretical underpinnings and the procedural and institutional components of democratic practice in Nigeria, including the challenges associated with elections, the legislature, the media and gender issues. Approaching the pluralistic characteristics of the Nigerian state and how they impede democratisation through contributions by experts and scholars in the field, the book analyses the issues and nuances inherent to governance and democracy in Nigeria, as well as domestic policy process, global governance and human security. Democratic Practice and Governance in Nigeria will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics and democratisation.

Parliaments play a pivotal role in governance, and yet little is known about how evidence is used for decision-making in these complex, political environments. Together with its practice companion volume, African Parliaments: Systems of evidence in practice, this volume explores the multiple roles legislatures play in governance, the varied mandates and allegiances of elected representatives, and what this means for evidence use. Given the tensions in Africa around the relationships between democracy and development, government and citizen agency, this volume considers the theories around parliamentary evidence use, and interrogates what they mean in the context of African governance.

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.