Hilary Egheose Okoeguale is a PhD student (Center for Constitutional Democracy). Hilary will present “A quest for stronger accountability mechanism in Nigeria’s Presidential System”.

Hilary Egheose Okoeguale, is a Mandela Washington Fellow and holds a PhD in Law from University of Benin, Nigeria. He served as Associate Professor of Law and Director at the Law Clinic, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, where he taught Human Rights Law, Constitutional Law and Public International Law for about nine years. Under the auspices of the Law Clinic, he coordinated students to provide civic education in secondary schools and para-legal services to detainees at a Correctional Centre through a service-learning module. He has quality experience in strategic advocacy, law reforms and litigation. His interventions in the criminal justice system in Ondo State, Nigeria between 2008 – 2013 included providing free legal representation in court for indigent detainees and mobilizing efforts for criminal justice reforms. Between 2011 and 2012, he co-drafted the extant Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Ondo. In July, 2022, he served as visiting Faculty at the Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University to share his experience with Mandela Washington Fellows. His passion for strengthening democracy made him commence a second doctoral study at the Center for Constitutional Democracy, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, where he hopes to make world class contributions to the development of democracy. 

(See abstract below)

Abstract

Long and multiple authoritarian regimes in Nigeria created patterns, usages, and institutions (some of which are now enshrined in the Constitution) that are in use and serve as agents of autocratization. Thus, the scope of presidential powers in Nigeria is reminiscent of authoritarian regimes rather than a reflection of the tenets of democracy. Consequently, symptoms of autocratization are prevalent in Nigeria’s democracy and they include the emasculation of the legislature, instrumentalization of government institutions, repression of protesters, widespread violation of civil liberties, and restricted press freedom. This paper unravels how the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 is complicit in enabling autocratization. In solving the problem, this study appeals to the concept of the rule of law as framework for constitutional amendment in Nigeria and argues that re-conceptualizing key government institutions as embodying the rule of law provide insights for critical reforms that could accelerate democratic consolidation in Nigeria. This would, essentially, entail strengthening the office of the Attorney-General. It also argues for the strengthening of vertical accountability mechanisms including the decentralization of competencies, free and fair elections, press freedom, and the right to freedom of expression.