The Legislature and the Preservation of Nigeria’s Value System and National Ideology

Abstract

Nigeria’s constitutional order explicitly embeds the National Ethics discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance, and patriotism as guiding principles for statecraft and democratic governance. Yet, despite their normative centrality, scholarship and policy debates have largely overlooked how these values are operationalised within the legislative process, particularly under the ongoing Tenth National Assembly (2023–2027). This study addresses that gap by examining the extent to which parliamentary actions debates, bills, oversight reports, and voting patterns align with or diverge from the constitutional ethics framework. Adopting a qualitative, multi-method design, the analysis draws on parliamentary records (Hansards, committee reports, bills), relevant policy documents such as the National Ethics and Integrity Policy and National Orientation Agency (NOA) reports, as well as scholarly and policy literature from 2020 to 2025. Doctrinal policy/legal analysis is combined with thematic content analysis of legislative texts and debates, coding for value categories including integrity, social justice, and tolerance, while triangulating with civil society briefs and media reports. Findings indicate a persistent misalignment between constitutional ideals and legislative practice, reflecting capacity constraints in committee oversight, weak ideological anchoring of political parties, and tensions between executive dominance and legislative autonomy. Policy implications include: enhancing oversight tools and timelines, institutionalising public reporting, fostering structured legislative executive civil society partnerships, and promoting party reforms that tie ideological clarity to national ethics.