A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENTIAL POWERS UNDER THE 1999 NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENTIAL POWERS UNDER THE 1999 NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION
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Date
2011-06
Authors
IGBUAN, Wahab Page
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Abstract
Constitutional power, being the power fashioned out through the sovereign
free will of the people, is basically meant to regulate the conduct of both the
government and the governed. It is central to politics. The 1999 Nigerian
Constitution vests executive powers in the President who is the Chief
Executive. Similarly, the 1999 Constitution confers on the President, the power
to assent to bills and modify existing laws. Even though there is provision for
delegation of powers, such delegates act only for and on behalf of the
President hence such acts are acts of the President. In a country like Nigeria,
whose history, especially as regards executive Presidency dates back only to
1979, it is obviously difficult to attempt to imbibe the political model of the
United States of America whose executive Presidency is centuries old, without
obstacles. When such powers as are conferred by sections 5, 58 and 315 as
well as other specifically granted powers in the Constitution are vested in one
man called the President, without effective checks and balances, and without a
clear frontier as in section 5(1)(b), the tendency is that such powers will be
misused. Power, it is said, “tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts
absolutely”1. It is in the light of the foregoing that this thesis examines the
gamut of the powers vested in the President, particularly as exercised since
the coming into being of the 1999 Constitution.
Description
BEING A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE
MASTER OF LAWS – LL.M. DEGREE.
Keywords
CRITICAL,, ANALYSIS,, PRESIDENTIAL,, POWERS,, UNDER,, NIGERIAN,, CONSTITUTION