Abstract
ABSTRACT This article examines the patterns of political career movements in the Nigerian federal system using the sample of federal cabinet ministers from 1999 to 2017. The result shows that most Nigerian ministers are politically inexperienced, with a large proportion of party-affiliated technocrats among them. For politically experienced ministers, the dominant pattern of career movements is a unidirectional one leading from the state to the federal level, while any movement back is rare. We argue that, among other things, this pattern is an outcome of the federal character principle stated in the Nigerian constitution, according to which the cabinet has to include a minister from each of the current 36 states. This requirement leads to disruption of political careers and hinders politicians from moving across territorial levels.
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