The people
Registered voters directly elect the President and Vice-President ticket, Senators, and members of the House of Representatives.
← Back to Nigeria
🇳🇬 Government power map
Who selects whom in Nigeria?
Federal presidential constitutional republic
Nigeria
7 institutions · 17 relationshipsHow power connects
Select an institution or a connection to explore.
Follow who selects, appoints or checks whom.
About this system
Nigeria's Constitution, updated through the Fifth Alteration in 2023, separates direct presidential and legislative elections from Senate confirmation of ministers, election commissioners, and Supreme Court appointments; bicameral passage and presidential assent or veto of federal bills; National Assembly investigations and impeachment; INEC election administration; and the Supreme Court's constitutional, federal-state, and specified election jurisdiction.
No invented arrows. A line is published only when an attached constitution or official institution explicitly supports the relationship. An institution source by itself does not justify an inferred line.
17 formal relationships drawn · 5 sources · Verified 2026-08-28
The dots
Institutions represented on this map.
Each institution below has an attached source. Being listed does not imply an unshown formal relationship.
National Assembly
The directly elected Senate and House of Representatives make federal laws, authorize expenditure, investigate administration, confirm specified nominations, and conduct the constitutional impeachment process.
President and Vice-President
The directly elected presidential ticket heads the federal executive; the President executes federal law, participates in legislation, and makes constitutionally bounded appointments.
Independent National Electoral Commission
The constitutional election-management body registers voters and organizes, undertakes, and supervises presidential, National Assembly, governorship, and State Assembly elections.
Federal Ministers and executive departments
Ministers are appointed by the President after Senate confirmation and may receive responsibility for federal departments and government business.
National Judicial Council
The constitutionally established Council recommends federal judicial nominees to the President and exercises specified judicial-policy and disciplinary functions.
Supreme Court of Nigeria
Nigeria's apex court has original federal-state jurisdiction and final appellate jurisdiction over constitutional, rights, and specified election questions.
Evidence and limits
Every line has a source. Every missing layer stays visible.
The map describes formal national relationships only. It does not measure democratic quality, legitimacy, actual compliance, or informal influence.
Official or constitutional source
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 - updated through the Fifth Alteration (2023)
National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies
- direct presidential and National Assembly elections
- executive power
- bicameral legislation and veto override
- minister and commission appointments
- legislative investigations
- presidential impeachment
- judicial appointment chain
- Supreme Court jurisdiction
INEC constitutional mandate
Independent National Electoral Commission
- constitutional establishment of INEC
- national and state election administration
- voter registration
- political-party oversight
House of Representatives - overview, functions and powers
National Assembly of Nigeria
- directly elected House membership
- federal lawmaking
- budget approval
- executive oversight
The Senate - overview, functions and powers
National Assembly of Nigeria
- directly elected Senate membership
- federal lawmaking
- impeachment
- confirmation of cabinet, judicial, diplomatic, and commission nominations
Supreme Court jurisdiction
Supreme Court of Nigeria
- apex-court status
- exclusive original federal-state jurisdiction
- constitutional and fundamental-rights appeals
- specified presidential and governorship election appeals
Source notes
Not mapped yetResearch gaps, not assumptions.
- The Vice-President's separately enumerated succession and acting-president paths
- The Chief Justice-appointed investigation panel inside the presidential impeachment process
- Federal Judicial Service Commission input before National Judicial Council recommendations
- Removal and discipline paths for judges and members of federal commissions
- State governors, State Houses of Assembly, state courts, and local government
- Police, armed-forces, security-council, and emergency-power relationships
- Political parties, federal patronage, informal influence, and whether formal constitutional rules are followed in practice
These maps describe selected formal national relationships, not every informal source of political power.