Friday, March 20, 7th Period

Parties

• during periods of military rule Nigeria had no political parties because the military banned them


• in the 1993 elections, Babangida decreed the existance of 2 political parties


• Gen. Abacha may have had influence in the creation of 5 political parties that granted him nominations in the '97 election


• under the 2nd republic, parties were required to demonstrate a national support base (this is done by recruiting supporters from sources outside the dominate ethinc area of the ethnic area)


• local elections feature 9 parties, the top 3 of which were allowed to nominate candidates for the '99 election


• the People's Democratic Party nominated Obasanjo who won 62 % of the vote


• the All Peopl'es Party and the Alliance for Democracy both nominated Olu Falae


• The People's Democratic Party is a desendant organization from the Normal People's Congress


• The All People's Party represents the Igbu


• The Alliance for Democracy represents the Yoruba

Constitution

• federalist constitutions have been written in '60, '63, '79, and '99


• mostly failed because of ethnic and language differences of 250+ ethnic groups in Nigeria and an attempt at democratic values while getting all of the groups to support democracy did not mix well


• a unitary system has emerged because of these difficulties, though it carries the guise of federalism


• Nigeria has a strong central government surrounded by very weak units


• Nigeria featured 3 states in '60, Middle Belt was added in '63, after the Biafran Civil War 12 states existed, now 36 states exist


• the increase in the number of states is meant to combat the ethinc differences by giving the people something else to unite around


• 29 years of military rule has lead to weak state and local governments


• it is written into the constitution that a % of the total oil income is guaranteed to the state and local gov'ts, but they don't get it

Executive

• because of the military rule, the executive branch has become overdeveloped at the expense of weak judicial and legislative institutions


• the constitution grants the executive relatively unchecked power


• patronage politics and the strong executive combine to hurt the economy


• the president has no veto and must give Presidential Assent for a bill to become a law


• if the president doesn't give Assent, the bill fails unless the legislature repasses it with a 2/3 vote (almost exaclty like a veto)


• president has 4-year term by a direct plurality vote with @ least 25% of the vote in 24 out of 36 states


• the president's power is pretty much ultimate, and the constitution takes little precedence to the president's policy, the person shapes the office/government

Legislature

• for 3/4 of Nigeria's history there was no legislature and policy was made by a military council


• now the legislature is bicameral (House of Representatives and Senate)


• representatives are elected to 4 year terms


• 3 senators come from single member districts per state


• 1st past teh post system


• the capital city elects 1 senator (total senators: 109)


• 360 members in House from single member districts, # of districts per state is determined by population


• Senate approves high level presidential appointments


• overall, the legislature follows the executive

Judicial

• the judicial branch has been resticted over time by military rule


• '93-'95 (uner Abacha) was especially hard on the judiciary


• Abacha revoked judicial review, took cases to the military courts decreased their funding, and just ignored them in general


• '99 constitution established a 15 member Supreme Court, members nominated by the president, and approved by the Senate


• also, Nigeria has Courts of Appeals and High Courts with judicial review


• b/c of nominating power, the executive branch can dominate the courts


• Islamic law courts (Sharia courts) exist in the North


• traditional courts exist in the Middle Belt and the South


• the Sharia has an Appeals Court in the capital city, only Muslims come under jurisdiction, some Northerners want to replace all courts with the Sharia Courts

Bureaucracy

• cultural divisions worsened by prebendalism and clientalism (ethnic groups would recieve disproportionate shares from their patrons)
• patrons and clients are linked by: ethnicity, religion, cultural ties
• clientalism undermines political trust and economic stability; politics has become an arena of struggles between ethnic groups over national wealth
• loyalty pyramid:
• BIG MEN
• patrons (clients to Big Men)
• patrons patrons (clients to above)
• patrons patrons patrons (clients to above)
• patrons patrons patrons patrons (clients to above)
• clients clients clients clients clients clients (clients to above)
• etc.
• Big Men rely on rents from the state because they need resources to pass to their clients
• policy making is a spin off of competeing intrests among Big Men
• intentions are focused towards clients instead of the country
• PARASTATAL-state owned business
• parastatals account for much of the government's employment
• 500+ parastatals
• high positions are appointed by the executive branch