Demystifying Intra-Legislative Conflicts in Nigeria: The Senate and the House of Representatives, 2007-2011

Abstract

Since the inauguration of the Nigerian federal legislature in 2007, conflicts between the Senate and the House of Representatives have been on the increase. But they are seen as a necessary precondition of the learning democratic process of the time. This paper argues that partisan conflict and bickering within the legislature can occur not only when two or more political parties control the two chambers but even when one party does. This is defined by the pursuit of private interests. In spite of the strategic importance of the legislature, adequate and relevant explanation to the conflicts within the two chambers seems not to have been scientifically given. Political analysts and academics rarely focus attention on scientific explanation of the conflicts. The article examines the theoretical insight and argues that the Nigerian state shows a unique form of underdevelopment, dependence, and authoritarianism. Because of these situations, the state becomes means of production for those who controls it and intra-legislative relation becomes conflictive in nature.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p677