ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA
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ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA
Abstract
In Nigeria, there is a significant paradox about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Because of its politics and policies, the party gained the respect and adoration of the majority of Nigerians between 1999 and 2007. This study evaluates the role of the PDP in governance from 1999 to 2007. It is based on direct observation and the utilisation of secondary sources.
The research indicated that the PDP government has been woefully inadequate in managing the operations of the Nigerian state. Thus, between 1999 and 2007, Nigerians experienced a deep crisis of expectation as a result of serious erosion, impairment, and debasement of governance values,
as reflected in macroeconomic instability, widespread corruption, a deepening democratic crisis, human rights violations, insecurity, frustration, disillusionment, and a growing loss of people’s confidence in the PDP government. As a result of the preceding, the report advised, among other things, strategies to reorganise the PDP for effective government in Nigeria.
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Study Background
Democratic administration, with its ideals of elective representation, freedom of choice of leaders, rule of law, freedom of expression, accountability, and so on, has become the world’s accepted system of government. It is a type of government in which a political community’s supreme power is based on popular sovereignty.
According to oyovbaire (1987), democracy as a system of government seeks to realise a generally recognised common good through collective initiation and discussion of policy questions concerning public affairs, and which delegate authority to agents to implement the broad decisions made by the people via majority vote.
Thus, in modern times, democracy has been defined as the expression of the political community’s popular will through elected representatives. According to Raphael (1976), representative governance is the foundation of modern democracy.
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Democratic governance in Nigeria has been distinct from what is available in other parts of the world. Respect for human rights and the rule of law, which are key aspects of democracy,
are absent, particularly between 1999 and 2007; election rigging and gangsterism are so common that it is difficult to distinguish between democratic and autocratic governments.
Political parties are critical to the political process in modern cultures. In each democratic society, they have become a veritable instrument or auxiliary of democracy. Political parties are not only vehicles for the aggregation of interests and the final satisfaction of such interests via control of government;
they are also vehicles for the aggregation of interests and the ultimate satisfaction of such interests through control of government. Political parties are obviously critical to the survival of democratic administration.
According to Agbaje (1999), the level of responsibility in public life, including access to and use of power, is determined by the extent to which political parties aggregate freely, articulate, represent, and organise. Merkel (1977:99) summarised political parties’ primary functions as follows:
a. Recruitment and selection of leadership personnel for government offices b. Development of government programmes and policies c. Coordination and control of governmental organs d. Social integration through group demand satisfaction and reconciliation or the provision of a common belief system or ideology
e. Individual social integration through mobilisation of support and socialisation
Political parties, in general, are critical to democratic governance. It is an essential tool of democratic governance. It provides a mechanism of encouraging responsibility, collective action,
public engagement, inclusion, legitimacy, and accountability by integrating their competing values, ideologies, and aspirations for eventual control of the state’s government.
Political parties are the intermediary institution 12 that mediates the affairs of both the people and the agencies that wield governmental authority.
Political parties in Nigeria are typically formed along ethnic, cultural, geopolitical, and religious lines. In everyday government activities, one can see the fostering of primordial loyalties such as ethnic sensitivities and the overt projection of other selfish political tendencies.
As a result, the political class has always been devoid of viable political ideology on which the nation’s political future can be anchored. The failure of philosophy and vision has turned party politics to a commodity game in which the monetization of the political process is the underpinning of loyalty and support. This has weakened the democratic system’s goal.
Since the military’s withdrawal from political control in May 1999, the PDP has dominated Nigerian administration. After eight years in administration, the party has lost the respect and adoration of the majority of Nigerian electorates as a result of its projects and policies.
The failure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government to deliver the projected rewards of democracy has resulted in frustration, disappointment, and psychomoral dislocation for the typical Nigerian.
The purpose of this study is to look into the role of the ruling PDP in democratic government in Nigeria’s fourth republic from 1999 to 2007.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The advent of democratic governance in the Nigerian political system in 1999 was a watershed moment in the country’s political evolution. After fifteen years of dictatorship, civic society, labour unions, human rights organisations, and others welcomed the return of democracy with pump and peagentry. Human rights, which had been completely absent during the dictatorship’s tenure, were given new life.
The dividend of democracy was intended to be realised through political parties, which are the means by which the 14 politicians reach the public and make their promises and manifestos available to them.
As a result, this study focuses on the role of Nigerian political parties in democratic administration from 1999 to 2007, with a particular emphasis on the PDP. The following research questions would lead the investigation:
1. How does the situation that led to the creation and establishment of political parties affect internal democracy within the party?
2. Did the programmes improve Nigeria’s democratic governance between 1999 and 2007?
3. How were these programmes put in place to bring good governance to Nigerians?
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