Nigeria’s Real Governing Philosophy: Èmi Ló Kàn by Lawson Akhigbe

There is a dangerous lie Nigerians tell themselves every election season: that the country is a democracy in the classical sense of the word. It is not. Elections happen, yes. Ballot papers are printed. Television stations host debates. Politicians crisscross the country in convoys longer than funeral processions for forgotten empires. But beneath the noise …

The Doctrine of Necessity in a Constitutional Democracy: A Nigerian and Comparative Perspective by Lawson Akhigbe

Nigeria Supreme Court There is a question that has long occupied my thinking as a student of Nigerian jurisprudence — one that sits at the uncomfortable intersection of legal theory, political survival, and constitutional philosophy. How can a doctrine of necessity validly exist within a constitutional democracy? And more pointedly, how has Nigerian jurisprudence absorbed …

The Ghost of Section 137(3): Why the Courts Keep Clearing Goodluck Jonathan by Lawson Akhigbe

For an ex-president who left office over a decade ago, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan continues to loom large over Nigeria’s political chessboard. Every election cycle, a familiar dance plays out: rumors of his return spark a flurry of panic, followed swiftly by a wave of lawsuits aiming to lock him out of the villa permanently.The recent …