Friend or Foe: The Executive and the Legislature in Muhammadu Buhari Administration, 2015-2019

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature in the
regime of President Muhammadu Buhari Administration from 2015 to 2019. These two
arms of government are the two pedals that wheel every developed democracy to its desired
destination. Looking at the salient power struggle that manifests in the process of the
Electoral Act amendment, the anti-corruption war and the late passage of appropriation
bills, among other issues, it is evident that the executive and the legislature have not worked
in harmony to move the nation forward as envisaged during the swearing in of the executive
and inauguration of the seventh assembly in 2015. This has led to the disempowerment of
the electorates and a high level of intolerance among citizens. Although conflict prevention
measures are being taken by elder statesmen to douse tension between candidates, if there
is no harmony between the two arms of government, the forthcoming general elections are
likely to be violence-ridden because followers would likely use the discordant tunes sang
by their principals to cause mayhem during or after the elections. The theoretical framework
adopted is the doctrine of separation of power and elite theory. Secondary data is relied
upon for evidence of power struggles among groups and a qualitative method is used to
analyse the data. This paper argues that mechanisms must be put in place to check the
overriding interests of groups that would always want to dominate political parties. The
interest of the common people in the subsequent General Elections should be a priority to
different arms of government for a sustainable democracy.