Internal Party Democracy and the Imperative of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Abstract

Parties are regarded as sine qua non for the organization of modern democracies, as well as for democratic consolidation. The literature that explains Nigeria’s democracy since 1999 depicts infractions and instability in party politics. It is in this context that this paper maintains that the major threat to democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic is the absent of Internal Party Democracy (IPD). The inability of political parties to manage their internal fuss usually results in cases of defections, which portends negative consequences for democratic consolidation in Nigeria. The paper explains and provides some internal governing structures for political parties as offered by Simba. Consequently, the study historically gave an illustration of political parties in the previous republics by showing how they were bereft of internal party democracy. The paper finally calls for an urgent alternative to this kind of party politics, while the current practice should be jettisoned.