JUDICIAL REVIEW OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 1999 (AS AMENDED)

Abstract

In any serious and responsible constitutional democracy, the most powerful branch of government that exercises control over the other two branches of government is the judiciary. This is because courts have the power of examining actions or inactions of both executive and legislature in order to determine their legality or otherwise. In this vein, this paper aimed at examining the power of judicial review of legislative action in Nigeria and same was achieved by using doctrinal research methodology. Based on the examination, the paper found out that locus standi constitutes a great hindrance to the citizens for initiating action by way of judicial review of legislative action in Nigeria. The paper also found that some constitutional provisions are contradictory to themselves and finally the paper discovered that there is no constitutional law court in Nigeria because even the matters that border on constitutional jurisprudence are being handled by normal conventional courts. The paper recommended that the principle of locus standi in respect of judicial review of legislative action be relaxed to a reasonable extent so that citizens can have the opportunity of challenging legislative actions in their individual capacities. It is further recommended that the contradictory constitutional provisions be reconciled by way of amendment. Finally, the paper recommended that specialist court-constitutional court be established and professional judges/jurists be appointed to handle issues of constitutional jurisprudence.