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The Role Of Political Parties In Consolidation Of Democracy In Nigeria
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Moreover, mainstream rhetoric in Nigeria media and popular discourses of
the polity is often centred on the claim that Nigeria is “consolidating
its democracyâ€. The evidence on the ground, however, contradicts this
claim (Momoh, 2013:1). It is perhaps most appropriate to liken the
relationship between political parties and the sustenance of democratic
rule in a particular society to that which exists between the umbilical
cord and the foetus (Yagboyaju, 2012:54).
Political parties are at
the heart of examining the health of any form of democracy. Orji
(2013:1) argues that ‘to talk, today, about consolidating democracy, is
to talk about a system of competitive political parties’. Therefore this
research study seeks to examine the role of political parties in
consolidation of democracy in Nigeria with particular references to the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Consolidating
Nigerian democracy through the functioning of political parties has
remained an albatross. The history of Nigeria’s democratic experiments
demonstrates that elections and political parties have generated so much
animosity which has, in some cases, threatened the corporate existence
of the country, such as happened after the annulment of the June 12,
1993 presidential election and in other cases instigated military
incursion in to political governance, most notably in 1966 and 1983. At
the heart of electoral crisis in Nigeria is the lack of credibility for
the official results of elections leading to the rejection of such
results by the opposition political parties.
Since the inauguration
of the Fourth Republic, a pattern is already emerging which points to
the fact that political elites have not learnt much from the mistakes of
the past. The various crises plaguing the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the annals of defections
in the National Assembly, cross carpeting of governors, lack of
internal democracy among others are vivid instances of this tendency.
Lack of party discipline continues to feature prominently in the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC)
political parties. This action ends up heating up the polity; a
situation that portends dangers to democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
This danger has resulted to the high level of political abduction,
harassment, arson, and assassinations, withdrawal of credible and
qualified professionals in the race. It is against this backdrop that
this study seeks to examine the role of political parties in
consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The
major objective of the study is to examine the relationship between
political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. Other
specific objectives are:
1) To examine the relationship between political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
2) To examine the effect of intra-party crisis on the democratic process.
3) To investigate the effect of party-members defections on democratic deepening in Nigeria.
4) To interrogateif lack of internal democracy by the PDP and APC is affecting the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.
5) To extrapolatethe challenges of consolidating democracy in Nigeria.
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