Nigeria’s Presidential System and the Vicissitudes of Executive-Legislative Conflicts in the Fourth Republic

This chapter explores executive-legislative conflicts as a common feature of democratic governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. It interrogates the conflicts, political rivalry, and mutual suspicion that characterized the acrimonious nature of executive-legislative relations in Nigeria’s presidential system over the course of successive administrations since 1999. The work relies on descriptive and analytical methods to utilize data from both primary and secondary sources to explore some of the major factors manifesting in gridlocks between the executive and legislative branches, and contributing to the ineffectiveness of government. The findings showed that rather than propel greater commitment toward the institutionalization of a strong regime of accountability in governance, the unending conflicts between the two branches of government manifested as parts of the unbridled competition among the political class to gain undue advantage over one another in determining the direction of state policy. The chapter concludes that frictions between political actors across the executive-legislative divide portend serious implications and consequences for the smooth running of government business in Nigeria, as well as the stability of the nation’s democratic process.