APPRAISING TITE OVER SIGHT POWERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN RELATION TO THE POWERS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

In June, 2016, the decision of the Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria to prosecute the Senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his deputy and others for the alleged offence of forgery of the Senate Standing Rules had generated controversy between the executive and the National Assembly. At the heat of the controversy, the Senate threatened to issue an arrest warrant against the Attorney General if he failed to appear before them for the purpose of explaining whether he considered public interest when he resolved to prosecute the presiding officers of the Senate for the alleged offence. Whether the National Assembly has the power to demand such explanation from the Attorney General in the exercise of his prosecutorial powers is the question which this paper critically examined in the light of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).. The paper made a detailed appraisal of the powers of the Attorney General in the conduct of public prosecution and examined the question whether the same could be questioned by the National Assembly in the exercise of their oversight functions. In the final analysis, the paper arrived at the conclusion that in the exercise of his powers, the Attorney General of the Federation or that of any other State in Nigeria, owes no obligation to explain to the National Assembly or any other person or authority why he resolved to prosecute a particular person for a particular criminal offence what so ever.