Legal experts x-ray Nigeria’s lack of good governance

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, has joined other legal experts in calling for credible leaders to institutionalise good governance.

Also speaking during the 2020 Founders’ Day of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in Abuja, Justice Muhammad said “good governance remains a challenge to the Nigerian State.”

The theme of the programme was: ‘Nigeria Quest of Good Governance, Law and Beyond Law’. This, the Director General of the Institute, Prof Tawfik Ladan, said was to ensure that only a government which can guarantee the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Section 14(2) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution.

For former Governor of Edo State, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, absence of free, fair and credible elections has been identified as the reason for lack of good governance in Nigeria. He also criticised the situation where people now win elections through the courts.

He said the National Assembly tried to correct the situation where the judiciary would jettison the wishes of the majority of the people, with Section 140(2) of the Electoral Act 2010.

“This was intended to end the rampant cases where people lose elections at the polls only to emerge winner in a court of law to the utter bewilderment, consternation and disbelief of many,” he said.

Prof Osunbor, however, opposed the calls for the removal of immunity clause in the Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution because, according to him, it would lead to distraction of the executives who would be exposed to much litigation while in office.