Rule Of Law, Politics And Governance In Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Abstract

The place of rule of law in politics and governance of any country cannot be overemphasized. This is because politics and governance being human activities are prone to crisis and abuse. As a result, it becomes very imperative for law to guide the activities of actors in the political and governance spheres. The rule of law also ensures that those in government positions act in a way that can and should bring about the welfare and well-being of the governed. This paper found out that since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 after long period of military rule there is less adherence to the rule of law. This is due to the presence of strong individuals rather than strong governmental institutions. These institutions more often than not are manipulated by the strong individuals in a way that serve their personal interest instead of general interest. This explains why corruption is very rampant in the country and elections are hardly free, fair and credible. Virtually all election results in the country are contested in the court because of obvious cases of electoral malpractices. Electoral malpractices have been the bane of good governance in Nigeria. This paper made use of the secondary method of data collection. In this case, data for the paper were collected and gathered from textbooks, journals, newspapers, magazines as well as internet materials. Analysis of the data collected was done through analytical, historical and descriptive methods. The theoretical framework adopted in this paper is the separation of power theory. The paper recommended among other things that there should be constitutional and electoral act amendment that would guarantee free, fair and credible elections in the country and the governmental institutions should be strengthened to be able to discharge their duties and responsibilities objectively without fear or favour.