JUDICIAL SOVEREIGNTY, A SINE-QUA-NON TO DEMOCRACRATIC GOVERNANCE: A NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

A vibrant Judiciary is an essential ingredient of democracy given its role as the third arm of the government. In an advanced democracy, the judiciary enjoys sovereignty in the discharge of its duties. This is in tandem with the principle of separation of power, checks and balances. Unfortunately, the situation in evolving democracies like Nigeria seems to contravene the tenets of separation of power. This study examined the extent of judicial sovereignty in and its impacts on democratic governance in Nigeria. The Methodology of the paper is both qualitative and descriptive. Relevant data from secondary sources were generated and analysed via contextual-analytic approach. The findings of the paper show that Nigeria Judiciary is not independent from the other arms of government in the discharge of its duties. The scramble between these two big wigs in the country now makes the court seen by the Nigerian public as a toothless bull dog because, the expected is no longer seen from them, rather, they dance to the tune of the drum players which always metamorphose to electoral manipulation and fraud and thus, have negative impact on advancement of democracy in Nigeria. The paper argued that, for democracy to consolidate in Nigeria, the Judiciary must be independent and corrupt free. Thus, the paper recommends some measures to ensure judicial sovereignty and palpable ways to advance democracy.