The Administrative, Legislative and Judicial Aspects of the Urhobo Consensus System of Government

Abstract

The Urhobo consensus system of government is built around certain social and political structures namely, gerontocracy and plutocracy. There exists different agegroups which include Ekpako, Ivwraghwa Otuorere, Ekwokweya, Emete, Emetogbe Otuorere and Imitete age-grades. For the purpose of administrative, legislative and judicial administration, each Kingdom is divided into the village and town levels. Also, each kingdom is divided into clans for effective administration. Each kingdom has a system of government that is similar to others. This paper attempts an analysis of the administrative, legislative and judicial aspects of the Urhobo consensus system of government. The aim is to show that the principle of consensus is an important aspect of the administrative culture of the people. The paper concludes that for effective administration and development of the Urhobo communities, there is the overriding need to continue to promote the doctrine of consensus in all matters and actions that confront the Urhobo people as a whole.