Public Order Act Enforcement in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: An Assessment of State Governors’ Reckless Interference and Implication for Opposition Politics and Democratic Stability

Abstract

Despite the constitutionally strategic status of state as the second tier of government in Nigeria’s federal system and the seemingly imperial position occupied by state governors in the present political dispensation; these state governors who also major as chief executives and chief security officers of their various states have in recent times been known as mainstay of corruption in Nigeria especially in the fourth republic, operating what essentially could better be described as fiefdoms under their spheres of influence. Suffice to say that the governors have always tended to represent vested interests opposed to popular democratic rules and procedures. With respect to public order act and its enforcement therefore, it’s not in doubt that the act places the buck on the Nigerian police force. Nevertheless, state governors also have roles under the law to that effect as chief security officers of their various states. Confronted by prevailing reality, with respect to public order enforcement in Nigeria, this study explored the copious and arbitrary interference of state governors and implication for opposition politics and democratic stability in the fourth republic. Available secondary evidence revealed that most state governors are averse to opposition politics and have flagrantly used their position to frustrate, hoodwink, repress and stifle  opposition political parties by using the police to deny them right to use public space for rallies and campaigns under the guise of enforcing public order. This indeed has massively contravened the fundamental right to peaceful assembly as well as hampered the growth of democracy in Nigeria.