CONSTITUTIONALISM AND CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA
Abstract
This paper examined the nexus between constitutionalism and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. Democracy is a government system where power is centred on the people. Its basic features consist of rule of law (constitutionalism), separation of power, protection of rights, and periodic elections, and thus, the focus is to ascertain the compliance to democratic institution which explains the concept of constitutionalism. Institutional theory was adopted as a framework for analysis. The qualitative research method was adopted. Data were sourced from online databases of journals and newspapers and sampled using coding sheets. The study found that constitutionalism is pivotal to democratic consolidation. Furthermore, it was established that democratic institutions were undermined because of interference by the executive on the courts. It was therefore recommended that there should be constitutional reforms that should promote the full independence of major democratic institutions such as judiciary and electoral umpire, especially with regard to appointment of officials and funding of some of these democratic institutions.
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