The tales of legislature's independence and menace of political interference: A critique of the Enugu State House of Assembly Okibe Hyginus Banko Department of Political Science, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Enugu State University of Science & Technolog Online published on 30 November, 2019. Abstract The Legislature is a creation of law, and an important arm of government that has exclusive power for lawmaking and oversight over government activities in any political community. Because of the strategic importance of legislature, constitution provides for its independence through separation of powers among the organs of government. However, in most post-colonial states, incidences of political interference and executive meddling roles have continued to challenge the independence of the legislature. This interference has continued to affect the performance of statutory roles of the legislature, especially in the area of oversight over executive activities. The enormity of the problem necessitates the study which major aim is to ascertain how the menace of political interference erodes the independence of the legislature and thereby influence the performance of its functions. The study applies documentary method for data generation, content analysis for discussion of thematic issues and post-colonial state theory as the theoretical framework. The findings show clusters of indicators that affect the independence of the legislature. Among the key components, include the nature of political party organization, the electoral process, the emergent value orientation, and elite class mentality; nature of political economy, which creates a symbol of godfather or moneybags syndrome and the prevalent docility to revolutionize the ugly trends. Based on the findings, it recommends reversal of the current political culture, adherence to the principles of constitutional democracy, separation of powers, internal party democracy, and abolition of politics of godfathers or moneybags. Top Keywords Legislature, Independence, Political Interference, Critique and State House of Assembly. Top |