BY
P.E IDAHOSA ESQ
1.0 ABSTRACT
The age-long principle of “separation of powers” allocates the governmental functions of law-making, enforcement/execution and interpretation respectively to the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary as organs of the state. This age-long doctrine as found in very many legal systems equally operates in Nigeria by virtue of sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The gravamen of this paper is that while carrying out its interpretative and adjudicatory functions, the Nigerian judiciary has helped in no small measure to deepen and consolidate democracy and the rule of law. This ⁵paper therefore examines such instances where the judiciary has saved Nigeria’s democracy and the rule from collapse. It concludes by suggesting and recommending some solutions to the inadequacies of the Nigerian judiciary.