OVERSIGHT FUNCTIONS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE ROLES OF THE JUDICIARY IN NIGERIA: THE CHALLENGES FOR THE RULE OF LAW

Abstract

On the one hand, the ultimate objective of the oversight functions of the legislature is to 
promote accountability, transparency, and responsiveness on the part of the executive and by 
extension check and balance its public actions. On the other hand, the constitution vests the 
judiciary as the third organ inter alia with the powers to interpret and apply all laws in the 
country in relation to both criminal and civil matters and disputes between individuals, groups, 
political authorities, as well as between one state and the Federal Government in a federal 
system. It is against this backdrop that this article examined the oversight functions of the 
legislature and the roles of the judiciary in Nigeria and the challenges it may constitute to the 
rule of law. This paper argued that the legislative oversight function make for an important 
source of suspicion and conflict, particularly between the legislature and the executive. 
Therefore, the judiciary, ordinarily supposed to serve as an impartial arbiter is incapacitated 
to serve the interest of the executive arm in many instances. This paper adopts historical and 
analytical approaches through the use of primary and secondary documents as contained in 
published and unpublished materials. The paper concludes and recommends that rule of law 
and democracy can work effectively and efficiently only if the capacity of legislatures is 
strengthened to address critical issues relating to constitutionalism, corruption, and poverty.
This can also be achieved by checking the excesses of the executive and collaborating with the 
judiciary to avert the consequences of democracy by court order.