ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF LEADERSHIP RECRUITMENT PROCESS ON INDEPENDENCE OF THE LEGISLATURE: A STUDY OF THE 8TH NIGERIAN SENATE
- Project Research
- 1-5 Chapters
- Qualitative
- Library / Doctrinal
- Abstract : Available
- Table of Content: Available
- Reference Style: APA
- Recommended for : Educators
- NGN 3000
Background to the Study
The legislature is an assembly of the representatives of the people elected under a legal framework to make laws for the good of society. According to Okoosi-Simbine (2010), the legislature represents the institution that makes laws for a nation by fashioning the collective will of the people into the instrument of law. The legislature controls through legislation all economic, social, and political activities of the nation.1 It also scrutinizes the policies of the executive and provides the framework for the judiciary to operate. In light of the foregoing, it may be difficult to talk about democracy in any meaningful form without the legislature. This may have prompted the assertion by Van Gestel (2014) that all the activities of governance begin with lawmaking which in fact affirms the provision of Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(as altered) that provides inter alia “the legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives”. Indeed, the institution of the legislature occupies a primary place in governance.
The loftiness of the legislative institution notwithstanding, there is a generally held view that “everything rises and falls on leadership” (Maxwell, 2007). Essentially, it is the prerogative of an institution of such standing in a democracy to emphasize its leadership. Within context, Yukl (2006) defined leadership as a process that involves influencing others to agree on what needs to be done, and how to do it. Aligning with this view, Northouse (2010) described leadership as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.
These definitions suggest several components central to the phenomenon of Leadership such as: “(a) Leadership is a process; (b) Leadership involves influencing others; (c) Leadership happens within the context of a group; (d) Leadership involves goal attainment; and (e) these goals are shared by Leaders and their Followers” (Kotter, n. d., p. 1). Thus, Leadership does not imply a characteristic or trait with which only a few or certain people are endowed at birth, it refers to a transactional event that happens between leaders and their followers.
In view of this, Patterson (2015) noted that there has been a growing interest in the extent to which legislative leaders represent rank-and-file members of legislative bodies and in the characterization of the kinds of representative relationships uniformly observable in legislative situations. In this light, Little (2016) argued that legislative leadership in the modern era is a balancing act. To buttress his point, Little argued that today's legislative leaders must continue to give attention to traditional institutional responsibilities such as lawmaking, representation, and oversight of the executive on the one hand, while on the other hand, the leaders are also expected to go beyond the legislative institutions, representing the positions, interests, and images of the legislature and its members to other external groups and policy activists. However, at the core of effective legislative leadership is the recruitment process.
Shokoya, Nwogwugwu, and Nwaodike (2020) established that Leadership Recruitment is the combination of two words with varied origins and meanings. Nevertheless, Gale (2008) attempted to define the concept of leadership recruitment from the prism of political recruitment as the institutional processes by which political jobs beyond the citizenship level are filled. The stature of Gale’s description of leadership recruitment is within the scope of this study because of its emphasis on the subject of recruitment for legislative leadership which, by itself, is a political institution. In this light, Shokoya et al (2020) provided an encompassing description of leadership recruitment as the process of selecting and appointing political candidates for positions of political prominence. In context, extant laws (the Constitution and House Rules) provide for the election of leaders of the respective Houses from within its ranks. Specifically,
Section 50 (a) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) stipulates that there shall be
(a)a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and
(b)a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.
Juxtaposing the above constitutional provisions with events hallmarking the election of Legislative leaders in recent times (Punch, Nigeria, 2019, 10th June; Vanguard, Nigeria, 2015, 7th June), one would notice an incursion into a matter that should be an exclusive preserve of the legislature because Nigeria operates a constitutional democracy with governmental powers divided among different arms of government. Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) are explicit on the division of such powers among the three arms of government. Baron de Montesquieu (1758) in his proposition for the separation of powers advanced for separate and independent legislative, executive, and judicial powers arguing that the separation is necessary to limit any one branch from assuming an overbearing effect on another. This forms the basis for the notion of an independent legislature although the independent arms would have to collaborate for good governance (Rockman, 1984).
Statement of Study Problem
Legislative leaders are individuals that direct the activities of the legislative chambers in any democratic system. Legislative leadership is divided into Presiding and Principal Officers. This distinction is based on whether or not leadership in the legislative assembly is by election or appointment. Therefore, while the President of the Senate and, or Speaker of the House of Representatives and their Deputies are elected from among the members, the principal officers to which the presiding officers are a part, include the Majority Leader; Deputy Majority Leader; Minority Leader; the Whips; among others. Nigeria’s presidential system imposes an imperative for separated governmental powers. Within the scope of the doctrine of separation of powers, Section 60 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) permits each House of the National Assembly to regulate its procedure. Hence, the legality of the various positions expressed in the rules of the respective Houses.
Order 3(1) of the Standing Order of the Senate 2015 (as altered), for instance, posits that “a Senator-elect may, before taking the Oath prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, take part in the election of the President and Deputy President of the Senate.” Sub-section 3(a) (b) further stated that “a Senator-elect, addressing the Clerk, shall propose another Senator-elect to the Senate to be President of the Senate and shall move that such Senator-elect “Do take the chair of the Senate as President of the Senate.” Such Senator, when so nominated and seconded, shall inform the Senate whether he or she accepts the nomination, then proceeds to address the Senate. Subsection 3(c-l) is clear on the procedure for electing the President of the Senate. Also, Order 4 is emphatic on the procedure for electing the Deputy President of the Senate which is similar to those of electing the President of the Senate. The foregoing position of the Standing Order notwithstanding, the prerequisite for election/appointments into presiding or principal officers position is based on ranking.
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