Rule of Law in Nigeria

Abstract

The rule of law is expected to be the guiding principle of governance since it is the foundation of good governance. The experience in Nigeria is to the contrary as successive administration in the country often violated the concept with carelessness and recklessness. This paper thus examines how the concept has suffered in the hands of the administrations using doctrinal and analytical synthesis of events. It is the concern of the paper that successive military administrations in the country and democratic ones have not done better thus putting a big question mark on their democratic credentials. It is most certain that unless the political leadership in the country see itself as a creation of the law and must thus be guided by the law, the rule of law would continue to suffer in their hands. Also, the judiciary must be accorded absolute autonomy from the other arms of the government.

Keywords: Rule of Law, Nigeria, Military, Democratic governance, Constitution