Politics of Merger of Political Parties in Nigeria : The past and Present Efforts to Evolve Two Major Parties

Abstract

The dissolution of a number of political parties in Nigeria into one party- the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2013 ahead of 2015 election re-enacted an already existing trend in Nigerian politics referred to as politics of merger of political parties. This paper examines this trend in Nigeria’s past and present political dispensations and concludes that the present merger of these political parties into APC may not likely provide Nigerians alternative to the PDP governments that have ruled the country for 14 years now, because of some obvious reasons. The paper recommends that given the level of primordialism and selfish partisan interests in Nigerian politics, the only way to establish an alternative government to the PDP rule is through a constitutional amendment that would entrench only two party system with limited opportunities for cross-carpeting by politicians. This would make the two parties have equal balance of power equilibrium to govern Nigeria interchangeably.