INFLUENCE OF LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

INFLUENCE OF LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA, 1999-2011

Abstract

 
The study interrogates the role of the legislature in enthroning public accountability in Rivers State between 1999 and 2011. The specific objectives were to: determine whether there is any significant relationship between legislative oversight by the Rivers State House of Assembly and exposition of executive corruption in the State between 1999 and 2011; ascertain whether the quest for re-election among Legislators undermined the operation of legislative mechanisms of accountability in Rivers State within the period under study and determine whether the legislative oversight by the Rivers State House of Assembly enhanced infrastructural development in the State within the period under study. We adopted the institutional theory, quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. We used multistage cluster probability sampling to choose the local governments from where we purposively selected our sample in Rivers State. The findings of this study are: there is a significant relationship between legislative oversight by the Rivers State House of Assembly and exposing of executive corruption in the State between 1999 and 2011; the quest for re-election among Legislators undermined the operation of legislative mechanisms of accountability in Rivers State within the period of study; and the legislative oversight by the Rivers State House of Assembly enhanced infrastructural development in the State within the period of study. We recommended that the legislature should ensure that the audited Rivers State account is published annually and hosted in the Rivers State Government and Nigeria’s website; Rivers State government should also consider using a combination of all financing alternatives, as the effective use of all capital sources would maximize the state’s output, and accelerate the realization of its dreams in infrastructural development.