Politics of Nigeria

Nigeria

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Nigeria

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Nigeria is a Federal Republic modeled after the United States, with executive power exercised by the president and with influences from the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. However, the President of Nigeria is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Nigerian politics takes place within a framework of a federal, presidential, representative democratic republic, whereby Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Together the two chambers make up the law-making body in Nigeria called the National Assembly. The highest judiciary arm of government in Nigeria is the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Nigeria also practices Baron de Montesquieu's theory of the separation of powers. The National Assembly serves as a check on the executive arm of government.

Legal system

The law of Nigeria is based on the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary, and also on the British common law because of the long history of British colonial influence. The legal system is therefore similar to the common law systems used in England and Wales and in other Commonwealth countries. The constitutional framework for the legal system is provided by the Constitution of Nigeria.

There are however, four distinct systems of law in Nigeria:

• English Law, which is derived from its colonial past with Britain;

• Common law, (case law development since colonial independence);

• Customary law, which is derived from indigenous traditional norms and practices;

• Sharia law, used only in the predominantly Hausa and Muslim north of the country.

Like the United States, there is a Judicial branch with a Supreme Court which is regarded as the highest court of the land.

Executive branch

The president is elected by universal suffrage. He/She is both the chief of state and head of government and heads the Federal Executive Council, or cabinet.

The executive branch is divided into Federal Ministries, headed by a minister appointed by the President, who must include at least one member of each of the 36 states in his cabinet. The President's appointments are confirmed by the Senate of Nigeria. In some cases a Federal minister is responsible for more than one ministry (e.g. Environment and Housing may be combined), and a minister may be assisted by one or more ministers of State.^[1] Each ministry also has a Permanent Secretary, who is a senior civil servant.^[2]

The ministries are responsible for various parastatals (government-owned corporations) such as universities (Education), National Broadcasting Commission (Information) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (Petroleum). Other parastatals are the responsibility of the Office of the Presidency, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Federal Civil Service Commission.^[3]

Seal of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Legislative branch

The National Assembly of Nigeria has two chambers. The House of Representatives is presided over by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It has 360 members, elected for a four year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate is presided upon by the President of the Senate. It has 109 members, elected for a four year term in 36 three-seat constituencies (corresponding to the country's 36 states) and one seat in a single-seat constituency (the federal capital, Abuja).

OFFICE	NAME	TERM
President of the Senate	David Mark	2007–present
Speaker of the House of Representatives	Aminu Waziri Tambuwal	2011–present

Judicial Branch

The judicial branch consists mainly of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which is the highest court in the land. It is presided upon by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and thirteen associate justices, appointed by the President of Nigeria on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council and subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Office	Office holder	Assumed office
Chief Justice	A. I. Katsina-Alu	December 2009
Associate Justice	Sylvester Umaru Onu	1993
Associate Justice	Umaru Atu Kalgo	1998
Associate Justice	Niki Tobi	2002
Associate Justice	Dahiru Musdapher	2003
Associate Justice	G. A. Oguntade	2004
Associate Justice	Sunday A. Akintan	2004
Associate Justice	A. M. Mukhtar	2005
Associate Justice	Mahmud Mohammed	2005
Associate Justice	Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen	2005
Associate Justice	Ikechi Francis Ogbuagu	2005
Associate Justice	F. F. Tabai	1999
Associate Justice	Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad	2007

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Nigeria. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Nigeria.

e • d Summary of the 1 April 2007 Nigerian presidential election results

Candidates – Parties	Parties	Votes	%
Umaru Yar'Adua	Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)	24,638,063	69.82
Muhammadu Buhari	All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)	6,605,299	18.72
Atiku Abubakar	Action Congress (AC)	2,637,848	7.47
Orji Uzor Kalu	Progressive Peoples Alliance	608,803	1.73
Attahiru Bafarawa	Democratic Peoples Party (DPP)	289,324	0.82
Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu	All Progressives Grand Alliance	155,947	0.44
Pere Ajuwa	Alliance for Democracy (AD)	89,241	0.25
Chris Okotie	Fresh Democratic Party	74,049	0.21
Patrick Utomi	African Democratic Congress (ADC)	50,849	0.14
Ambrose Owuru	Hope Democratic Party	28,519	0.08
Emmanuel Okereke	African Liberation Party (ALP)	22,677	0.06
Lawrence Adedoyin	African Political System (APS)	22,409	0.06
Habu Fari	National Democratic Party	21,934	0.06
Maxi Okwu	Citizens Popular Party (CPP)	14,027	0.04
Bartholomew Nnaji	Better Nigeria Party	11,705	0.03
Emmanuel Obayuwana	National Conscience Party	8,229	0.02
Olapade Agoro	National Action Council	5,752	0.02
Mojisola Obasanjo	Nigerian Masses Movement	4,309	0.01

e • d Summary of the 21 April 2007 Nigerian National Assembly election results

Parties	House of Representatives			Senate
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
People's Democratic Party			260			85
All Nigeria Peoples Party			62			16
Action Congress			32			6
Progressive Peoples Alliance			3			1
Labour Party			1
Accord						1
Total			360			109
Source: IPU Parline

Administrative divisions

The federation is divided in 36 states and 1 territory*; Federal Capital Territory (Abuja)*, Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara

Each state is further divided into Local Government Areas (LGAs). There are 774 LGAs in Nigeria.^[4] For each state they are listed in the article for that state. Kano State has the largest number of LGAs at 44, and Bayelsa State has the fewest at 9. The Federal Capital Territory of Abuja has 6 LGAs.^[4] The Local Government Areas replaced the Districts that were the third tier administrative unit under the British government.

Military

Main article: Military of Nigeria

Nigerian troops

The military of Nigeria has played a major role in the country's history, often seizing control of the country and ruling it through major periods of its history. Its last period of rule ended in 1999 following the death of the leader of the previous military junta Sani Abacha in 1998.

Active duty personnel in the three Nigerian armed services is total approximately 76,000. The Nigerian Army, the largest of the services, has about 60,000 personnel deployed in two mechanized infantry divisions, one composite division (airborne and amphibious), the Lagos Garrison Command (a division size unit), and the Abuja-based Brigade of Guards. It has demonstrated its capability to mobilize, deploy, and sustain battalions in support of peacekeeping operations in Liberia, former Yugoslavia, Angola, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sierra Leone. The Nigerian Navy (7,000) is equipped with frigates, fast attack craft, convettes, and coastal patrol boats. The Nigerian Air Force (9,000) flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft, but most are currently not operational. Nigeria also has pursued a policy of developing domestic training and military production capabilities. Nigeria has continued a strict policy of diversification in its military procurement from various countries. After the imposition of sanctions by many Western nations, Nigeria turned to the People's Republic of China, Russia, North Korea, and India for the purchase of military equipment and training.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Nigeria

Nigeria is currently in better foreign relations due to its current state of democracy though a fledging one. It is a member of the African Union and sits on that organization's Peace and Security Council. Since 1960 Nigeria has been a member of the UN and also joined the Commonwealth of Nations the same year, however they were briefly suspended between 1995 and 1999. Nigeria is member of ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, AU ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, EFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

See also

	Nigeria portal
	Politics portal

• Senate of Nigeria
• National Assembly of Nigeria
• List of Nigerian state governors
• List of all Nigerian state governors
• Nigerian Civil Service
• List of Nigerian states
• Nigerian Prisons Services

References

1. ^ "Government Ministries in Nigeria". Commonwealth of Nations. http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Nigeria/Government/Government_Ministries. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
2. ^ "Permanent Secretaries". Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. http://hosf.gov.ng/civil_service/disposition_list_5. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
3. ^ "BOARDS OF PARASTATALS". Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. http://hosf.gov.ng/civil_service/structure_2. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "USAID Nigeria mission: Nigeria administrative divisions" October 2004