In essence, a responsible and accountable leadership that would characterise good governance in Nigeria is
patently absent. Nigerian political elites, almost without exception, have an insatiable capacity to steal from the commonwealth and leave the people more impoverished. Unrestrained by any real accountability to the electorate, many of those elected officials who came to power in fraudulent elections have committed abuses against their constituents and engaged in the large-scale looting of public resources (Human Rights Watch, 2007). Therefore, there is a very wide hiatus between the rich and the poor masses. In Nigeria today, what we have is democracy without social, economic and political
development.executive and recklessness of the opportunistic politicians is also inefficient and ineffective. Effective legislature contributes to good governance. This is done by the performance of legislative oversight over the finances of government, which serves as a catalyst for the sustainability of a democratic governance. It is alsoimportant to note that the responsibilities of the legislature in a democratic society have gone beyond mere rule making and representation. They are now involved in administrative and financial matters. Legislatures are now saddle with the role of keeping
close watch and control over the executive arm of government and the control of public expenditures and
taxation. In summary, a legislative house must not only be capable of making laws for the safety and general
wellbeing of the people, but must also be able to manage funds in order to provide good life for the entire citizenry.
To perform its oversight function effectively, every legislature needs power to shape the budget and means
of overseeing or checking the executive power beyond the ultimate power of impeachment. A legislature that is
capable of oversight function is more likely to manage the available funds to achieve the objectives of the state with
minimal or no wastages, and this engenders transparency, openness, accountability which represent the
tripod of good governance. The failure of the legislature to perform this important function in Nigeria has denied
the people the gains of democratic governance. Rather than enhance good governance through equity in the
distribution of resources legislature in Nigeria have been preoccupied with how to amass wealth to them at the
peril of Nigerian. The case of the 2009 budgetary allocation is a typical example. A breakdown of the 2009 National Budget shows that members of the National Assembly and the personnel of a part of the Presidency will be paid 47.8 billion naira as emoluments during the year. The 360 members of the House of Representatives were to receive 26.67 billion naira while the 109 Senators were to get 16.3 billion naira. When provisions for legislative aides, the National Assembly Service Commission and the National Assembly Office are factored in, the total allocation to the federal legislature stands at 61.6 billion naira. In its analysis, the editorial comment in the Nigerian Tribune of December 11, 2008
notes that “an infinitesimal percentage of the citizenry will be pocketing 2.9% of the total provision made for the
recurrent expenditure of Federal Government”. Hence, the national assemblies have failed to provide selfless, purposeful and democratic legislative leadership. This is so because Nigerian legislators are not qualitatively appointed through competitive, fair and free elections. The situation in Nigeria lends credence to Ogban’s (1996) proposition that; When a few people control the governance of a polity and have the preponderance of force to continue to maintain such control, a national assembly that emerges from the dictation of such a group is likely to be more corrupt and subversive of democracy and democratisation than the one that emerges from the dictates of the popular forces. It is incontrovertible that the States and the National Houses of Assembly in Nigeria are products of corrupt and undemocratic procedures and processes. Hence, it is not surprising that its activities subverts rather than promotes democracy and good governance. This is actually the dilemma of democracy in Nigeria. Furthermore, the judicial arm, an indispensable complement to good governance is also lame. In the Nigerian context, it is no exaggeration that the notion of the judiciary as primus inter pares is one that is yet to be fully imbibed by the political elite, irrespective of the recent popular judgement over some contested gubernatorial seats in Edo, Imo and Rivers states. The judiciary in Nigeria is to a large extent subject to the whims and caprices of the executive arm. This is so because the judiciary is not only financially dependent on the executive but has also been excessively politicised. The upshot of this state of affairs has been the corruption of the judiciary. While judiciary corruption relates to unprofessional or infamous conduct by judicial officers, it is also taken to mean attempts by extraneous bodies to undermine the judiciary either through inducement, cajoling, intimidation, or some other means (Oyebode, 1996). Undoubtedly, a financially dependent judiciary cannot enjoy full autonomy neither can it dispense justice without fear or favour.Consequently, while the Nigerian masses might historically perceived the judiciary as ‘the last hope of the common man”, the political elite have sought to humiliate, exploit or marginalise the judiciary, almost totally oblivious of the class suicide potential of such attitudes. The situation is compounded by the country’s economic wretchedness which makes an individual susceptible to corruption. In a society bedevilled by social insecurity, political instability and economic woes, it “require near superhuman guts to be upright and stand firm on the side of judicial integrity, independence, due process of the law and kindred virtues of democratic polity” (Oyebode, 1996). Thus, the rule of law becomes the rule of the jungle and good governance is jeopardised.