Nigerian Governmental Structure

Electorate Nigerians have voted in national elections since 1959 Since then many elections have been cancelled, postponed, or fraudulent The annulment of the 1993 election led to reduced political participation Nigerians voted in large numbers in 1999 and 2003 Close to 2/3 of eligible voters voted in 2003 Elections in Nigeria are still very corrupt and unreliable

Executive Parliamentary system replaced with a presidential system during the 2nd Republic Model adopted in 1979 When Obasanjo became the first elected president since 1983 he inherited an extremely strong executive branch Executive was bolstered as a result of the many years of a military head of state

Unique to Nigeria If a presidential candidate does not receive an outright majority a second ballot election can take place Has not happened yet A president must receive at least 25% of all votes cast in 2/3 of the states A purely regional candidate cannot become president Why?

Legislature In 1960 Nigerian legislature operated along the lines of the Westminster model Elected lower house with an upper house appointed by the executive (PM) 1979-1983 – adopted a U.S. model Bicameral (National Assembly) – Senate and House of Representatives

Senate Election based on equal state representation 3 senators from each state, one from the federal district of Abuja 109 total senators 4 Senators were women in 2003 Elections every four years – renewable terms

House of Representatives Elections based on state representation 360 members from single member districts Weighted to reflect the size of the population of each state (same as U.S.) 23 Representatives were women in 2003

Unique to Nigeria Legislation is a mixed bag of ethnicities Recently began to serve as an effective check on the Executive Shot down Obasanjo’s plan to alter the Constitution so he could run for a 3rd term in 2007 Past legislatures have had limited power

Judiciary Early Years of Independence courts had a great deal of autonomy Combined common law, traditional law, and sharia Years of military rule ravaged the courts Suspended judicial review Cronies appointed as judges Military tribunals Result = presently judges not well versed in law and make decisions that are manipulated by the government

Judiciary Based on the British model Courts are charged with interpreting laws in accordance with the Constitution Judicial Review exists in theory 1999 Constitution established a Supreme Court, a Federal Court of Appeals, and a single unified court system at the national and state levels Courts exist at federal and state levels and the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land

Unique to Nigeria Sharia courts exist side by side with the courts based on the British model Islamic courts function in 12 predominantly Muslim states