Nigeria constitution does not support total separation of powers – Prof. Abubakar
Director General of the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abuja, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman has posited that the Nigerian constitution does not advocate and support total separation of power.
He made this submission at a lecture organised by the Kwara state Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to mark the 59th independence anniversary of the country in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital on Tuesday.
In the lecture titled: “Ensuring the separation of powers between legislature and executive; the role of NILDS,” Prof. Abubakar, who was a former minister for national planning posited that the essence of separation of power is to prevent autocratic values, but the constitution has skewed more powers to the executives than the legislature and the judiciary.
He added that something fundamental has to be done to the constitution in order to grant autonomy to the legislative arm because the autonomy it presently enjoys is relative.
While asserting that the essence the institute is to strengthen the capacity of all actors in the democratic process by training and sensitization, he disclosed that the institute recently held a round -table for the 36 state House of Assembly’s speakers as well as compiling and reviewing the constitutional amendments carried out by the National Assembly.
He however, advocated for cooperation between the legislature and the executive in order to have checks and balances as a way of sharing responsibilities encapsulated in the constitution.
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This is because the President shares legislative power with the National Assembly and vice versa as he has to assent to bills before they can become law while the National Assembly has to approve some appointments made by the President including that of the head of judiciary.
Other areas that he advocated synergy between the legislature and the executive include budget, oversight functions and party caucuses, but however, identified some fundamental variables that have limited legislative- executive engagements in Nigeria such as restructuring, sharia, revenue allocation formula and others.
In his goodwill message, the Deputy Chairman of Kwara state House of Assembly Committee on Information, Felix Omotayo Awodiji described the lecture as a good contribution to the quest for good governance in the nation.
