Executive Order

Blacks law dictionary, eight edition, page 610 defines an executive order as “an order issued by or on behalf of the president, usually intended to direct or instruct the actions of executive agencies or government officials or to set policies for executive branch to follow’’ . According to Dave Roos, an executive order is also known as a proclamation, its a directive handed down directly from a president or governor (the executive branch of government) without input from the legislative or judicial branches. Executive orders can only be given to federal or state agencies not to citizens, although citizens are directly affected by them. For the American Bar Association, an executive order is a signed, written and published directive from the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government,…………..Executive orders are not legislations, they require no approval from congress and congress cannot simply overturn them.
Just like it is obtainable in the United States of America , a Nigerian president derives his powers to issue executive orders primarily from the constitution and enactments of the national assembly. Though empowered by the constitution to issue executive orders, it will be unlawful for an executive order issued by the president to restrict the lawful powers of a governor of a state. This is so because the federal system of government Nigeria operates presupposes that each tier of government has its own set of powers and is free from the direct and intrusive influence of other tiers. Professor Ben Nwabueze for instance conceptualising federalism, opined that it : “is an arrangement where the powers of government within a nation or country are divided between a national, country wide government, and a number of regionalised governments in such a way that each exist as an entity separately and independently of the other , and operate directly on the persons and property within its territorial area ,possessing a will of its own and apparatus for conducting its affairs, sometimes on matters exclusive to it “ (Ben Nwabueze , Federalism in Nigeria under the presidential constitution of 1979 (Sweet &Maxwell) p.1 quoted in Kehinde Mowoe, Constitutional Law in Nigeria) .Executive order 10 which sought to grant financial autonomy to the state and federal judiciaries and legislature , though issued with the best of intentions ,is unconstitutional . Because it offends the principle of true federalism as enshrined in the constitution.
It is submitted that executive orders form an integral part of the presidential system of government which Nigeria has chosen to operate. In my opinion, for executive orders to be an effective tool for positive change ,the executive in making its orders must stay within its range of responsibilities and not attempt to cross into regions which have been constitutionally delineated to the legislative arm of government and for other levels of government.

By: Nkechi Bright Ewere