Nigeria Flashcards
Political system
Multi-party Democracy since 1999; Presidential system
• Federal Republic: 36 state, 1 federal district (area containing capital city of Abuja), 774 local Govt.
• Executives: Presidential system of Govt.
Head of Govt: • Federal Govt - President; State Govt- Governor; local government areas-
Chairman of Local Government Council
• Legislature:
• Federal (National Assembly) : Senate (109 members elected for 4 years, 3
from each state and Federal District) ; House of Representatives (360 members directly elected for 4 years)
• States: Unicameral: State Legislative assembly
• Local Govt, area: Local Government Council: directly elected councillors
•Judiciary:
• Federal, state, and local court system, headed by the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Shari’a courts in northern states for cases involving only Muslims in customary disputes (divorce, property, etc.). No Judicial review powers.
• Election system: First past the Post; Parties based on ethnicity, now alliances of convenience among ‘Big Men’ from across Nigeria.; APC: All people’s Congress is the ruling and PDP - People’s democratic party- are the main political parties Very fragile democracy, military rule for more than half of the period since independence.
• Ethnocentric prebendal system, extreme centralization, ‘Big men’ politics,
Clientelism, and corruption pulls down the nation
Colony of Britain
1900-1960- unification of northern and southern protectorates estate of Nigeria in 1914
Who let the first military coup
1966- Igbo
Second military coup
Yukubu Godwin, and Middlebelt Christian
Basis of creation of regional states
On the basis of ethnicity
Relation between the federal and state government
Intense rivalry and confrontation between the federal and state government over resource and tax share
Nature of federalism
Highly unitary tendencies. Centralisation has been the hallmark of the federalism in Nigeria.
