POLITICAL PARTIES AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA. A CASE STUDY OF PDP AND APC (2011-2018).

ABSTRACT
Political parties play very critical roles in democratization of any nation. Central to the successes and failures of electoral politics is the cardinal and strategic functions of this all important and an integral organ of democratization which is core to its development. The dawn of the Nigerian fourth republic has witnessed renewed and sustained activities of political parties which is the most complex and critical institutions of democracy but undoubtedly has either shaped or stagnated the deepening and consolidation of democracy. With heavy reliance on secondary data supported by analytical approach, the paper x-rayed the role of political parties in the democratic consolidation of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The climax of the analysis is the identified challenges plaguing democratic consolidation since the commencement of the fourth republic i.e.: Lack of institutionalization and personalization of political parties; Godfatherism; Absence of internal democracy within the political parties and incessant party/political violence. The party system in Nigeria is still weak and vulnerable with no visible signs of adding value to the democratic consolidation. It is recommended that issues of organizational capacity, effective leadership, internal democracy, discipline, institutionalization and personalization, ideological platforms of mobilization and linkage to civil society and the masses should be addressed.

1.1 Background to the Study
What is meant by democracy and democratic consolidation? Questioning the sufficiency of electoral democracy, democracy entails not only contestation and participation but also the establishment of various sites for maintaining accountability, popular expression, collective action, and a wide range of civil and political freedoms. Diamond, (2011). In other words, the substantive conception of democracy depicts better what is meant by democracy in this chapter than the formal or procedural conception of democracy. Whilst the procedural democracy which has been advocated by Omotola refers to the establishment of rules, procedures and institutions for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a struggle for the people’s vote Omotola, (2008); substantive conception of democracy questions the sufficiency of formal democracy and asks for greater opportunities for people to affect debates about important decisions that shape their society. According to Przeworski, (2010) while the idea of formal democracy is related more to the process of regime transition, the shift in democratization studies to concentrating on regime consolidation has moved to discussion that goes well into areas of substantive democracy.

Consolidating Nigerian democracy through the conduct of credible elections has remained an albatross. The history of Nigeria’s democratic experiments demonstrates that elections and electoral politics have generated so much animosity which has, in some cases, threatened the corporate existence of the country (such as what happened after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election) and in other cases instigated military incursion in to political governance. 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 a sizeable portion of the Nigerian voting public. Since the 1964 general election, the first to be conducted by the post-colonial Nigerian government, elections in Nigeria have consistently been characterized by the contestation of results and organized violence. While there is a plethora of factors that account for electoral crisis in Nigeria, the institutional factor (designing a credible electoral system) appears to be the most salient. In addition, the process of implementing such an efficient electoral regime is challenged by sociological variables such as the pluralist character of the Nigerian nation, underdeveloped political culture and irrational elite behavior. Omotola, (2008).

A party’s commitment to democratic values will be reflected in its internal organizational structure. For example, a party’s local organizers and members should have the right – indeed, be encouraged to develop programs that they deem appropriate, such as public forums and membership recruitment campaigns. These local initiatives, however, should be consistent with basic party policy. Local leaders and organizers have a responsibility to contribute to the greater good of the national party and to communicate information about local activities to the national office. At each level, leaders, organizers and individual members should be accountable for fulfilling clearly defined responsibilities NDI, (2010). Political parties should be organized and managed no differently than other successful organizations. At the most basic level, this means that a successful party will have a clear internal management and communication structure that is well known and understood by its members.

Political parties are interested in achieving electoral and political gains. These can only be accomplished to satisfaction through the effective deployment of the parties’ organizational resources at the local, intermediate and national levels. In this sense, we are interested in ascertaining and being able to use the material capacity as well as the human and financial resources that a party has, including the skills and the personnel with which these are managed. A party that has been able to clearly identify its resources may be able to expand them and deploy them effectively.

In Nigeria, even though the political space has been marginally liberalized since May 29 1999 after a prolonged period of military rule, the Nigerian state has remained predatory, repressive and totalitarian. Politics is still zero-sum and brutish. The antecedents of the current state such as repression, predatory political behavior and parasitism remain in place. Rather than democratize the polity and promote inclusive politics amid a complex plurality, the state continues to exclude more and more people from the political and development processes. The massively rigged general elections held in April 2007, with the attendant nullification of gubernatorial and parliamentary results by the election petition tribunals and the appellate courts, was indicative of the inability of the state to conduct credible elections after 55 years of political independence. It also gave useful insights into the depth of political decay in the country Omoweh, (2012).
Thus, in this essay, the critical nature of Nigerian political parties in the Fourth Republic will be explored to ascertain their contributions to the achievement of democratic consolidation in the country.