ANARCHY: GETTING RID OF THE VEGETABLES TO AVOID THE FINAL SHOWDOWN.

Political engagements in Nigeria governance-wise between the executive and the legislature are significantly disorderly in nature reflecting the absence of purposeful functional conceptualization of what Montesquieu described in his treatise DE L'ESPRIT DES LOIX, concerning the need for constitutional system of government with principle of the separation of powers.

The principle of the separation of powers is an arrangement that encapsulates orderliness, checks and balances between the three organs of the state to avoid abuse, encroachment, dictatorship, arbitrariness and usurpation within any given constitutional political arrangement like Nigeria.

However, the present disorderliness, dysfunctionality ravaging our political landscape is not only manufactured by corrupt elements within the national assembly and interested influence peddlers outside the legislative chambers. It is also important to note that this anarchy of governance is exacerbated by the jaundiced, ambiguous and contradictory provisions in our statute that have created breeding grounds for acrimonious politicization of self-evident legal disagreements requiring judicial interpretation for their resolution.

It is baffling how @APCNigeria a party at the centre has become an organism in conflict with itself given the challenges confronting it from the periphery leading to what I call legislative implosion as a result of incompatibility of interest of persons and groups making up the party. This is aggravated by anti-corruption policy seen by those corrupt members in the legislature and godfathers outside the chamber as something utterly anathemic to their aspirations.

It is germane to note that this acrimoniousness and politicization of prima facie legal disagreements within the purview of judicial interpretation have grievous impact on policy development and implementation thereby hindering socioeconomic growth in Nigeria. Obviously, the latest conflict for supremacy unravelling before our eyes between the legislature SENATE to be precise and the  executive over Magu confirmation is an indication of the lack in understanding of how the principle of separation of powers machinery as a vehicle in dis-aggregation works within the boundary of the rule of law.



The judiciary as the third estate of power is saddled with the responsibility of interpretation of the law if and when there are conflicts concerning understanding of the provisions in our statute and this is a mechanism that has worked in so many democratic society but we seem to be getting things muddled up creating a potpourri of claims and counterclaims with the legislature politically grandstanding on threats of impeachment and non-confirmation of executive nominees.

This is not the appropriate mannerism in conflict resolution in a democratic society rather what this behavioural paradigm suggests to me is the confirmation of my previous statement in an article I wrote wherein I posited that we are still in pre-civil society in Nigeria looking at our ''political administration.''

How in God's name or what is in the nature of our legislature/legislators that predispose them to impunity, threats and flagrant disregard for the rule of law on issues bordering on legal interpretation from the judiciary. The aggrieved party in this case the SENATE should approach the judiciary for interpretation and resolution of the misunderstanding in a democratic manner instead of the brigandage and undemocratic methodology of paralyzing governance.

It is imperative to note that collapse of previous democratic experiments in Nigeria could be associated with disagreements irreconcilability, mistrust and open-ended conflict relationship-wise between the executive and the legislature leading to stagnation in governance with negative impact on the populace.

In conclusion, a collaborative methodology with polylogue as an instrumentarium for conflict resolution between the executive and the legislature is a desideratum envisioned by Montesquieu when he saw the judiciary as the final arbiter in any disagreement involving the other two organs of government if and when dialogue has failed to engender the resolution of what is obviously a self-evident legal disagreement needing judicial interpretation to settle the matter for good.

OTUNBA ADE ILEMOBADE IS A PHILOSOPHER.
TWITTER: @PEARL2PRINCE.