Parties In Nigeria Research Articles

Party politics, dearth of political ideology, and the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article undertakes a critical examination of the paucity of political ideology within Nigeria’s party system, with a particular focus on the 2023 presidential election. It further explores the ramifications of this deficiency on the political landscape and developmental trajectory of the country. In liberal democracies, political ideology plays a crucial role in shaping the political system and determining the course of a state’s political and economic development, but Nigeria’s political landscape currently suffers from a lack of ideology. Political parties in Nigeria are not driven by ideas, beliefs, and values. They are not groups of individuals who share a common ideology, but rather serve as platforms for patronage and wealth accumulation for the political elites. This article advances the argument that the lack of political ideology in Nigerian politics weakens the political system and creates a democratic deficit. These factors challenge the process of democratic development in Nigeria.

Democracy for Sale: Examining the Phenomenon of the Cost of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for Major Parties in Nigeria’s 2023 General Election

Elections in Nigeria are increasingly turning democratic practice into a bazaar for the highest bidder. Preparations for the 2023 General Election, especially the purchase of statements of interest and nomination forms, as well as party primaries, threaten to squeeze non-super-rich candidates out of participation. This study examines how Nigerian democracy is being manipulated into a business of the highest bidder by examining the costs of the entire process of nomination and party primaries in the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party. The study draws on face-to-face in-depth interviews selected on the basis of criteria such as accessibility, relevance, and quality of information. The informants were classified into different categories. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Clientelism is adopted as a framework to explain this phenomenon. The study found that APC and PDP deliberately drive up the cost of nomination to displace poor and non-rich competitors. The impact is evident in the reckless use of money during the parties’ primaries where the process was conducted in dollars. Transparency is being circumvented and to restore integrity to nomination and party primaries in Nigeria, reforms that go beyond politics to include civil society, the electorate, international partners, and other stakeholders are needed.

Youth Political Participation and Party Politics during the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria

The waning of young participation in politics has made the involvement of Nigerian youth in politics a contentious issue since the country's return to democracy on May 29, 1999. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the level of youth participation at the party level during 2023 general elections in Nigeria. This study used secondary data such as textbooks, Journal articles and online sources while content analysis was used to analyse the data collected. Moreover, this study is situated within the “Sleeping Dog Theory”. The study argues that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) recorded the highest number of youth participation at the party level during the 2023 general elections. Other parties in order of increased youth participation include Action Democratic Party, New Nigeria's People Party (NNPP), Socialist Democratic Party (SDP), Action Alliance (AA) and Labour Party among others. However, Labour Party occupied sixth position, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) thirteen positions while the All Progressive Congress (APC) fifteen positions. This shows that the three dominant Political parties during the 2023 general elections namely Labour Party, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressive Congress (APC) were not among the leading political parties that encouraged youth participation at the party level during the 2023 general elections. On the whole, this study recommends among other things that Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC) which is the umbrella body for Political parties in Nigeria should work closely with the various political party leadership on ways to increase youth participation at the party level like the reduction of the party nomination/interest form.
 
 Received: 10 October 2023 / Accepted: 28 December 2023 / Published: 5 January 2024

Nigerian Electoral Black Market: Where Do Party Switchers Go and Why Does It Matter?

With most existing research on party switching concentrating on the drivers of defection and the electoral performance of defectors, this research sheds light on the events that occurred after MPs switched parties but before voters sanctioned them in the next election. Using Nigeria as a case study, I discover that instead of establishing their own parties and banking on their personal popularity for electoral victory as some have speculated in new democracies, switchers strive to stay within the dominant parties, thereby challenging generalised narratives of weak parties in Africa. Through the utilisation of qualitative and quantitative data from elite interviews and an original dataset, I equally discover that name recognition and fiercely contested primaries make dominant parties in Nigeria simultaneously the net gainers and losers of party defectors. Additionally, evidence shows that while switchers are more likely to get ballot access than non-switchers, they similarly become targets of party retaliation.

IMPACT OF BLAME GAME AMONG POLITICAL ACTORS ON UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The blame game among political actors has been a persistent issue in Nigeria's political landscape, with various parties and their supporters’ pointing fingers at each other for the country's underdevelopment. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the blame game among political parties and underdevelopment in Nigeria. The study analysed data from various sources, including news articles, political speeches, and social media posts, to identify the blame game patterns among political parties in Nigeria. The data was analysed using content analysis to uncover the themes and patterns of blame game rhetoric used by political parties. The findings revealed that political parties in Nigeria engage in a blame game that often leads to a lack of accountability and poor governance. The parties tend to blame one another for the country's challenges, rather than taking responsibility and working together to find solutions. This blame game culture has contributed to the country's underdevelopment, as it diverts attention from critical issues and impedes progress. The study also identified several themes of blame game rhetoric used by political parties in Nigeria, including blaming previous governments, blaming opposition parties, and blaming external forces. These themes often serve as a smokescreen to divert attention from the party's failure to deliver on their promises. In conclusion, the blame game among political parties in Nigeria has contributed significantly to the country's underdevelopment. The study strongly recommends need for a shift in the political culture towards a more collaborative approach to governance that prioritizes the country's development over partisan interests.

Youth, Political Parties, and Peace-Building Process in Nigeria

The Nigerian Youth cannot be ruled out in the study of active contribution to the Nigerian political system, national stability, cohesion, and development, due to their orientation, attitude, and reactions to national issues. Political parties are the avenue for electing representatives of the people and to this effect, the Nigerian Youth have been trying to take a meaningful hold of the Nigerian parties by trying to be major political gladiators. Premised on this background, this paper is set to discuss the conceptual meaning of youth, political parties, and peacebuilding. In the same vein, it will establish the connection and relationship between youth partisanship and peacebuilding in Nigeria. Moreover, the study seeks to examine the pivotal roles the Nigerian youth play in enhancing peacebuilding and national stability as members of political parties in Nigeria, whilst also attempting to determine to what extent the youth have been contributing to conflicts and peace-building in Nigeria. The data for this study were collected through primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through the Interview with Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Direct Observation (DO), and participant observation. In addition, youth organizations, amongst others, were interviewed. The secondary sources include books, journal articles, periodicals, magazines, and other publications relevant to the study. The data were analyzed using a qualitative approach. The peace-building theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. The findings of the study revealed that the Nigerian Youth, in these contemporary times, have been actively involved in partisan politics and that a significant correlation between Youth participation in politics and the peacebuilding process in Nigeria is well established. Now that the youth have been brought into political parties for more participation in the civic roles that they have been excluded from in the time past, there is a need for initiating programs and policies to better understand the roles of youth in political parties and the peace-building process. The study recommends that the Nigerian youth be properly enlightened and adequately equipped in peace and peace-building processes.

Inter-Party Carpet-Crossing Among Legislators and Implications for Oversight Functions and Governance in Nigeria

This paper examined the implications of inter-party defections by the APC and PDP elites in the National Assembly on law making and governance in Nigeria. It has been observed that emerging political coalitions may not always reflect policy preferences or philosophical differences since they are mostly based on personalities and agreement among political leaders. Political parties are widely acknowledged to have a significant impact on the oversight and accountability of governmental operations and policies. Political parties’ refusal to impose such rules stifles efficient public representation at all levels. The survey research method was employed to gather data, while the elite theory was found useful in explaining the study. For the purpose of analysis, the Simple Linear Regression was executed with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for the testing of the hypothesis at 0.5 significance level. The finding of the study revealed that the APC and PDP elites’ inter-party defections in the National Assembly had a substantial influence on the enactment of laws for good governance in Nigeria. Consequently, the study suggested, among others, that political parties in Nigeria should be established on ideologies and not pecuniary benefits and primitive accumulation as it is being witnessed even in the current administration. Besides, being a member of a political party should not be determined by the collection of ticket to vie for elective political office.

Party Politics, The Zoning Policy Paradox, And Consolidation of National Unity: An Assessment of the Two Major Political Parties in Nigeria

The word “Zoning” has dominated the present political struggle in Nigeria. To a reasonable degree, zoning has been omnipresent in the genesis of Nigeria’s politics right from the first Republic and influences the formation of government (both military and civilian), and has been a subject of debate amongst scholars. It is right to reaffirm that the intention of those who brought the idea of the zoning policy into Nigeria’s political space was to ensure fairness in the rotation of key political offices across the country, but the politics and contentions associated with the actual practice of it is something to worry about. This is due to the fact that Nigerian politics over the years have been played on the basis of ethnicity as zoning seems to be an arrangement made to favour a particular set of people, who by reason of numbers acclaimed to be the majority, as against those who are regarded as the minority. In fact, zoning has practically turned out to represent the interest of few elites, who want to perpetually remain in power, and it is also defined by them, against what the masses may consider zoning to be in the sense of justice and fairness. With the 2023 general elections in sight, the issue of zoning is once again central and, as usual, contentious. This paper is an attempt to interrogate the extent to which the zoning of political offices during electoral contests, appointments, and the distribution of amenities will help in sustaining national unity in Nigeria and help in harmonizing and actualizing party interest(s). Scholars have written extensively on the zoning arrangements in Nigeria, some have even gone as far as tracing its origin to the second republic, but one thing which has remained a gab in their efforts is their inability to capture appropriately how zoning can help keep the country together by not just stating or making mention of zoning, but applying it in spirit and in principle. In gathering data for the study, the paper made use of the secondary method of data collection, while the generated data was analyzed using content analysis. Using John Rawl’s Theory of Justice, the paper finds and exposes the marginalization in the undue application of the zoning policy in Nigeria. This is because political actors have always placed their personal and party interests above fairness and justice. In other to ensure political justice, and consolidate National unity in the country, the paper recommends that the interest of the diverse religion, languages, and tribes that make up the country should be considered always so as to overcome the feeling of marginalization and domination of one region over the other which is about to tear the country into pieces.

THE 2022 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PRIMARIES AND CHALLENGES OF INTERNAL PARTY DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA

This article examined what happened at the state party primaries when political parties elected their delegates and candidates to vie for state Houses of Assembly seats for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria. Successful aspirants to state Houses of Assembly are expected in the next four years to make laws on matters that are closest to the grass root. The article however limited its examination of state Assembly primaries to the two dominant political parties – the APC (All Progressive Congress) and the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) because as of January 2022, these two parties, of the currently registered 18 political parties in Nigeria, controlled 92.8% of the entire state Assembly seats in the 36 states of the Federation. It was established from findings that the problems of imposition of candidates and sponsorship by godfathers characterized the conduct and outcome of party primaries at this level, the extant legal instruments that supposedly ruled against such infractions notwithstanding. This article, by providing a background to this study, established with examples that these problems have existed within the Nigerian political space and in party primaries in particular, during the first second, and third Republics respectively. This creates challenges of accountability when aspirants emerging through this process are elected into office. The article concluded with recommendations on what should be done to limit or eliminate the control of governors, money bags, and godfathers, especially at the level of state Assembly primaries. The emphasis in the recommendations was placed amongst others on the rank-and-file card-carrying members being attracted and retained, as strong financial members of their parties, committed to the party’s ideology and programs, and being made therefore to own the party and its structures.

The Import of Differential Traditional Mode of Dressing in Campaign Poster Designs as Leverages to Gain Electioneering Advantages by Political Parties in Nigeria

In Graphics design production, there are established modes of practices which have been established over the years, be it a simple hand stenciled banner, to the creation of crests on fabrics by screen printing or by the new, more sophisticated, method of printing by direct imaging, designers have always focused on the adoption of elements and principles of design as the basis to put the design rubrics together. But more than that, the entire breadth of design creation is often taken beyond the mundane of the simple rudiments. This paper, therefore, focused on a new phenomenon of personality induced impetus which became a noticeable trend on the production of political campaign posters in Nigeria. The paper delved into the historical appearance of campaign posters in Nigeria across the major political epochs, it was found out that the Nation’s political imbalance from divergent tribal regions was a primary flare which festered the personality induced visuals on posters in order to douse political tensions. Three major presidential candidates’ campaign posters were purposively selected for scrutiny from the 2023 Nigeria’s General election and the Art historical method of visual art criticism was adopted to appraise the posters and the practice of the Graphics designers. The paper concluded by ideating the inseparability of the role of art from the dictates of the society.

Aggression and Banter as (de)legitimisation Strategies in Political Debate

Political debate is an emerging culture in Nigerian politics, aimed at fostering popular democracy, and presenting candidates to electorates to make their choice. But it is likewise a platform for exchanging cynic comments and banters, especially between the contestants, most of the two dominant political parties in Nigeria, the All-Progressive Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This has not been sufficiently researched in studies on political discourse. Extant studies have focused on campaign speeches, acceptance, and concession speeches, among others, using speech acts, socio-stylistics, and critical discourse analysis. This study investigates the comments and rebuttals of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the APC, and Governor Godwin Obaseki of the PDP, in the 2020 Edo Governorship Debate. It adopts implicature, explicature and pragmatic acts as theories to, qualitatively, analyse the downloaded and transcribed excerpts from Channels Television’s website, where they were televised to reach millions of people, both in local and international spaces. The results show that both conventional and conversational implicature, and explicature were employed by both aspirants to achieve party and self legitimisation, supremacism, cynicism, and criticism. These are used as campaign strategies. The study concludes that the contestants in the Edo 2020 political debate made it about themselves and their parties. Aggression is initiated and managed as a debate-campaign strategy to canvas for the electorates’ votes.

The Implications of Party Leadership Crises on Nigerian Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC)

Political parties are the engine wheel and the machinery on which the vehicle of democracy thrives. Democracies require sound parties with focused leadership and a clear ideology for national development on the assumption of power. In Nigeria, the two dominant ruling parties of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which ruled for sixteen years and the All Progressives Congress (APC) which is currently in its fifth year of ruling are pre-occupied with internal leadership crises which collapsed the former and are threatening to tear the latter today. The inability of the country’s political leaders to establish parties with a dedicated and pragmatic party leadership is affecting the democratic governance in the country despite having the experience of the longest experiment in the history of the country. The research utilised both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of data consist of an in-depth personal interview with some selected stakeholders in the subject matter of study and direct participant observation. The secondary sources are documented materials such as books, journals, internet sources and other related documents. A suitable framework; Game Theory was adopted to support the views presented in the work. The data obtained were discussed, analysed and interpreted using thematic content analysis and statistical modules. The work discovered that the leadership crises in the two dominant parties in Nigeria are affecting democratic delivery and good governance because of the power tussle. The work recommends among others that the parties must develop a culture of internal democracy and ideological focus with a frame for national interest and development.

Women Leadership and Political Participation in Africa (A Study of Nigeria and Ghana)

This study carried out an empirical analysis of women leadership and political participation in Africa with an empirical focus in Nigeria and Ghana. Data for the study were generated through secondary sources which includes Worldbank, World Development Index (WDI) and Political Reports (PR). The methodology used in the study is a documentary comparative analysis. The theoretical framework employed for this study is Kanter’s “Glass-Ceiling Theory” (1977). The major findings of the study is that despite the relevance of women in the politics of Africa, women in this continent are still grossly underrepresented. It is worth noting that Ghanaian and Nigerian women are still disenfranchised as a result of the country's leadership style. It is therefore the recommendation of this study that political parties in Nigeria and Ghana should establish a support network for aspiring female politicians by pairing them with experienced female politicians who will serve as mentors and provide capacity building for young or aspiring female politicians in order to enhance and develop them ahead of future elections and secondly, to develop an environment that empowers African women to participate actively in decision-making in a sustainable and effective manner that is free of all forms of violence and harassment.

POLITICAL REBRANDING AND ELECTORATE ACCEPTANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN NIGERIA

This study examined the relationship between political rebranding and electorate acceptance of political parties in Nigeria. A total of four hundred (400) respondents (voters) in Rivers State were sampled upon which a descriptive design was employed and the hypothesized relationships were subjected to analyses using a simple regression statistical tool. The study found that party image, party identity, and party trustwere political rebranding techniques can trigger electorates’ acceptance. Therefore, the researcher concludes that for the rebranding of Nigerian politics to be successful, it must have a party image, party identity with some elements of trust. Based on the findings, the study recommended among other things that, political parties should build credible political party image and identity, to enable them to remain attractive to the electorates

Attracting and Managing Talents in Modern Day Political Parties: Evidential Strategies from Nigeria’s Democratic Process

The broad objective of this paper was to explore the place of succession planning and talent management among political parties in Nigeria. Specifically, the paper seeks to determine the strategies for attracting and managing talents in modern political parties with the aid of empirical evidence from Nigeria’s electoral process. The study employed the survey method of research in which the data required for the study were collected through the instruments of questionnaire and in-depth interviews. Four dominant political parties were selected out of the current 63 registered political parties in Nigeria. Quota and stratified sampling techniques were mostly used in their sample selection; and samples of 400 respondents were selected. The data collected were presented, analyzed and interpreted through the use of tables, frequencies, and percentages. The findings of the study indicated that talents can be attracted to a political party and managed through a generous reward system, good working environment, membership development policy, authority delegation, challenging jobs and committee involvement, harmonious working relationship with party officials and hierarchies. Also, talents can be managed for a party’s survival using membership development policy, motivation and other retention strategies. Our test of hypothesis also indicated that a political party’s continuity depends on the application of these strategies. Based on these findings, the study suggested that political parties should take deliberate steps to put in place some motivational and staff/membership development policies that will expose its functionaries to global best practices in democracy and party management. Keywords: Party Management, Talent Management, Political Environment, Succession Planning, Democratic Process, Political Parties, Nigeria.

Vote-buying Enterprise and Voting Behaviour among Electorate: Evidence from Southern Nigeria

This paper specifically reviews activities of political parties in terms of voters’ inducement during elections period in Nigeria. The paper deconstructs voters’ inducement as political economy created to attract electorates purposely to swing votes to benefit political party. The paper relied on secondary data retrieved through content analysis. It was evidently established that political parties in Nigeria especially the case in Edo, Ondo and Ekiti State, discretely engaged in voters’ inducement which come in the form of financial and material gifts. Financial gift was often distributed during voting period such that eligible voters were whisked and wooed by parties’ agents to swing votes. Some willing voters negotiated depending on the highest bidders. Yet some voters grabbed the opportunity to create economy for themselves such that they invested the fund in small scale business and ventures to survive. Besides, mega political parties with robust financial elbow were fingered as major perpetrators of voters’ inducement. Some voters apparently were overshadowed by the inducement due to tight economic condition and poverty. This paper recommends voters’ education to enlighten electorates and expose the consequence. The role of the media, church, mosque and schools is indispensable in this situation.

A Bayesian Approach for Validation of Election Results

Election process and results in many countries have resulted in both political and economic instability of that country. Fair and credible election process and results must be evidence-based and statistical proven. This study employed a Bayesian procedure for the validation of election results. Based on Nigerian 2011 and 2015 presidential election results, Bayesian credible intervals were obtained to assess the credibility of Nigeria presidential election results. The study explores Bayesian methods using a Bayesian model called beta-binomial conjugate model to compute posterior probability of electoral votes cast and confirm if these votes are within Bayesian credible intervals. The results obtained showed that election outcomes for the two major political parties in Nigeria 2011 presidential election are not within Bayesian credible bounds while 2015 presidential election results are within computed Bayesian credible bounds. Also, in contrast to frequentist approach, applied Bayesian methodology exhibited smaller variance which is an indication that Bayesian approach is more efficient. Thus, for election to be fair, credible and acceptable by the electorates, Bayesian approach can be used to validate electoral process and results.
 Keywords: Bayesian Methods, Bayesian Credible Intervals, Beta-Binomial Model, Empirical Bayes, Nigeria Presidential Elections.

Curbing the Challenges of Multi Party System in Nigeria: The Need for Independent Candidature

Multi-party system and independent candidature are no doubt dividend of democracy. Nigeria operates a multi-party system, which allows the people to decide or elect their leader through competitive elections from the numerous registered political parties. The registered political parties present their candidates through a primary election conducted within the political parties. Once the electorate votes these candidates into office, they are often more committed to their political parties than the electorates who voted them into power. Despite the avenue for multiplicity of political parties in Nigeria, the economic, social, welfare and political situation of the country has remained the same with no sign of improvement. On the other hand, independent candidature is alien to Nigerian democratic system, as it is not provided for in the Constitution and the Electoral Act. It allows an individual to contest for election without being a member of a political party. This study identified the challenges of multi-party system and the need for independent candidature in Nigeria. The relevant primary and secondary sources such as statutes, textbooks, articles, internet materials, reports etc were relied upon in this work. This study however concluded that in order to curb the excesses of political parties, independent candidature should be enacted into Nigerian law so as to give individuals who are independently minded the opportunity to contest in an election without belonging to any political party. Keywords : Multi-party system, Political parties, Independent candidature, Nigeria, Democracy DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/84-03 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Defection and Party Crisis in Nigeria

Since the creation of political parties in Nigeria, it has been characterized by the issue of defection and party crisis. This had been accompanied by the role of democratic institutions in resolving the problems of defection and party crisis in Nigeria, having in mind that the structure of these democratic institutions could play a significant role in the consolidation of democracy. Hence, the study interrogates how weak democratic institution impacted on defection and party crisis which inversely affects democracy and also examined the link between defection and party crisis. The data was collected through documentary sources on the various indices of corruption, institutional quality, freedom and fragile state of different years from 2008-2017. The data was analyzed using the multi-regression analysis. The result shows that lack of peace, and security, corruption, and institutional quality had a negative impact on democracy. So the democratic institutions are weak to enforce the rule of law in the country that will guide the activities of politics in Nigeria. Thus, the study found out that the inter-party crisis leads to fractionalization and defection. We predicated our analysis on the structural-Marxism theoretical framework. Also, it recommends that the constitution should be re-written to ensure the proper definition of defection and ensure sanction and penalty for the bridge of these laws in society. Keywords: Defection, weak institution, party crisis, political institution, political business. DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-8-06 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Hate Speeches and Disrespect for the Opposition Parties in Nigeria: Implications for Democratic Consolidation and National Development

Hate Speeches and Disrespect for the Opposition Parties in Nigeria: Implications for Democratic Consolidation and National Development