Legislative Oversight Function of the National Assembly: Nigeria’s Experience in Abuse of Process and Ultra Vires Practices

Abstract

Since the advent of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, Nigerians have yearned for good governance from those they elected govern them at all levels of government. However, this aspiration has remained a pipedream due to misgovernance. This quagmire of retrogression raises fundamental questions regarding the critical role of the National Assembly in the quest towards the goal of achieving good governance, since the legislature represents the most notable symbol of democracy. As a representative government, it consists of elected officials or a constituent assembly of people whose function is to make, revise and repeal laws for the good and welfare of society, as well as serving as a watchdog over government activities. Good government depends on the kinds of laws that are made by the legislature. Any obstruction to the functions and powers of the legislature directly affects good governance. The legislature is known as the Parliament in the UK, the Congress in the United States, and the National Assembly in Nigeria. Whatever the nomenclature, it is safe to say that all functioning legislatures in democratic nations have representative, legislative, and supervisory functions