Party Defection and Sustenance of Nigerian Democracy

Jude Odigbo

Party Defection and Sustenance of Nigerian Democracy

Jude Odigbo * §

Contact

§ Federal University Wukari

Party Defection and Sustenance of Nigerian Democracy

Article Fingerprint

ReserarchID

23DS9

Party Defection and Sustenance of Nigerian Democracy Banner

AI TAKEAWAY

Connecting with the Eternal Ground

Abstract

It has always been the practice in Nigeria’s unstable party democracy for people to defect to other parties with the intention to secure nominations from the party, and for a good number of them to return after elections to join the winning party to vie for positions in the government. The recent massive party defections by political gladiators in Nigeria were symbolic as it was the members of the ruling party that defected to opposition party and on a non election period. This paper examined the implications of this on democracy in Nigeria. It observed that this particular defection would help build strong opposition that would create a balance in the country’s democracy by checking the excesses of the ruling party at any time. It also noted that party defections are integral part of democratic processes. However, it argued that since the present defections are not driven by fundamental ideological consideration, there is still a tendency that the opposition would still crumble in no distant time especially if the motive (which is to stop the incumbent president) is not achieved or even after the struggle as the bond cannot be strong outside ideology. The paper relied on content analysis and adopted abstractions from elite theory. It observed that lack of ideology and internal party democracy appears to have ignited the prevailing squabbles that orchestrated the recent exodus. The paper recommended social re-engineering, reorientation and mobilization that is directed towards inculcation of new values and the essence of entrenching acceptable philosophy in Nigeria’s party system.

References

32 Cites in Article

Reference Format

L Adejuwon (2013). Of Carpet Crossing and Old Wine in New Bottle.
C Ake (2000). Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa.
C Ake (2003). Democracy and Development in Africa.
A Appadorai (2004). The Substance of Politics. By A. Appadorai. (New York: Oxford University Press. 1953. Pp. x, 524. $2.50.).
E Awa (1991). Democracy and Governance in Africa: The Continental Perspective.
L Baiyewu (2012). Defections and the Survival of Deocracy.
K Barnhurst (2005). News Ideology in the Twentieth Century.
T Carothers (2006). The Weakest Link: Aiding Political Parties in New Democracies.
A Dahl (2000). On Democracy.
L Diamond,J Hartlyn,J Linz,M Lipset (1989). Democracy in Developing Countries.
Anthony Engobes (1999). FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA RESEMBLANCE, SELF-GOVERNMENT AND FOREIGN STRATEGY, 1999-2007.
J Fischman,D Law (2005). What is Judicial Ideology, and How should we Measure it.
John Gerring (1997). Ideology: A Definitional Analysis.
R Heberle (1951). Social Movements: An Introduction to Political Sociology.
T Iyare (2004). An Overview of Political Parties in Nigeria.
K Janada (2009). Laws against Party Switching, Defecting, or Floor-Crossing in National Parliaments. The Legal Regulation of Political Parties.
John Jost,Christopher Federico,Jaime Napier (2009). Political Ideology: Its Structure, Functions, and Elective Affinities.
G King,G Benjamin (1986). The Stability of Party Identification Among US Representatives: Political Loyalty, 1789-1984.
P Mbah (2011). Party Defection and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria -1999 -2009.
O Nnoli (2003). 1. Introduction.
T Nokken,K Poole (2002). Congressional Party Defection in American History. Being a Paper prepared for delivery at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.
J Nwanegbo,J Odigbo (2013). Democracy and Institutionalization of Poverty.
P Okparaji (2010). Political Party, Defection and the Law.
S Omotola (2009). Nigerian Parties and Political Ideology.
E Osaghae (1992). Democracy and Its Limits.
J Schumpeter (1990). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.
M Seliger (1976). Ideology and Politics.
Amartya Sen (1999). Democracy as a Universal Value.
J Unah (1993). Seycat pty ltd <i>v</i>. Government of Seychelles.
T Van Dijk (2006). Politics, Ideology, and Discourse.
S Varma (1975). Modern Political Theory.
N Wanjohi (2003). Sustainability of Political Parties in Kenya.

Download References

Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

How to Cite This Article

Jude Odigbo. 2014. "Party Defection and Sustenance of Nigerian Democracy". Global Journal of Human-Social Science, Global Journal of Human-Social Science - F: Political Science GJHSS-F Volume 14 (GJHSS Volume 14 Issue F6).

More Citation Formats

Select Citation Style:

Download Citation

GJHSS Volume 14 Issue F6

Explore Journals Explore Volume Read This Issue

Journal Specifications

Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

Keywords

Defection Democracy Party Sustenance

Classification

GJHSS-F Classification FOR Code: 750699

Submission ReceivedDecember 14, 2013
Peer Review Double Blind
Handling Editor
Accepted January 1, 2014
Published January 15, 2014

Version of record

v1.2

Issue date

November 21, 2014

Language

English

Experiance in AR

Explore published articles in an immersive Augmented Reality environment. Our platform converts research papers into interactive 3D books, allowing readers to view and interact with content using AR and VR compatible devices.

View in VR

Read in 3D

Your published article is automatically converted into a realistic 3D book. Flip through pages and read research papers in a more engaging and interactive format.

View in 3D

Article Matrices

Total Score: 103

Country: Nigeria

Subject: Global Journal of Human-Social Science

Authors: Jude Odigbo, Jaja Nwanegbo, Kingsley Nnorom (PhD/Dr. count: 0)

View Count (all-time): 292

Total Views (Real + Logic): 2068

Total Downloads (simulated): 122

Publish Date: 2014 01, Wed

Monthly Totals (Real + Logic):

Month 1: 25 views
Month 2: 39 views
Month 3: 47 views
Month 4: 53 views
Month 5: 37 views
Month 6: 30 views
Month 7: 33 views
Month 8: 29 views
Month 9: 39 views
Month 10: 30 views
Month 11: 38 views
Month 12: 46 views
Month 13: 16 views
Month 14: 14 views
Month 15: 25 views
Month 16: 37 views
Month 17: 14 views
Month 18: 32 views
Month 19: 42 views
Month 20: 44 views
Month 21: 34 views
Month 22: 11 views
Month 23: 36 views
Month 24: 29 views
Month 25: 15 views
Month 26: 32 views
Month 27: 37 views
Month 28: 36 views
Month 29: 41 views
Month 30: 14 views
Month 31: 43 views
Month 32: 21 views
Month 33: 30 views
Month 34: 36 views
Month 35: 15 views
Month 36: 45 views
Month 37: 40 views
Month 38: 40 views
Month 39: 19 views
Month 40: 23 views
Month 41: 19 views
Month 42: 19 views
Month 43: 29 views
Month 44: 34 views
Month 45: 25 views
Month 46: 49 views
Month 47: 28 views
Month 48: 29 views
Month 49: 39 views
Month 50: 23 views
Month 51: 30 views
Month 52: 32 views
Month 53: 29 views
Month 54: 43 views
Month 55: 26 views
Month 56: 31 views
Month 57: 26 views
Month 58: 42 views
Month 59: 17 views
Month 60: 33 views
Month 61: 33 views
Month 62: 29 views
Month 63: 28 views
Month 64: 23 views
Month 65: 47 views
Month 66: 49 views
Month 67: 42 views
Month 68: 40 views
Month 69: 30 views
Month 70: 21 views
Month 71: 28 views
Month 72: 14 views
Month 73: 40 views
Month 74: 44 views
Month 75: 22 views
Month 76: 29 views
Month 77: 34 views
Month 78: 34 views
Month 79: 43 views
Month 80: 28 views
Month 81: 29 views
Month 82: 34 views
Month 83: 28 views
Month 84: 27 views
Month 85: 40 views
Month 86: 42 views
Month 87: 33 views
Month 88: 32 views
Month 89: 40 views
Month 90: 34 views
Month 91: 38 views
Month 92: 31 views
Month 93: 31 views
Month 94: 16 views
Month 95: 17 views
Month 96: 27 views
Month 97: 29 views
Month 98: 30 views
Month 99: 19 views
Month 100: 26 views
Month 101: 26 views
Month 102: 19 views
Month 103: 15 views
Month 104: 27 views
Month 105: 48 views
Month 106: 33 views
Month 107: 22 views
Month 108: 48 views
Month 109: 24 views
Month 110: 33 views
Month 111: 42 views
Month 112: 39 views
Month 113: 37 views
Month 114: 32 views
Month 115: 39 views
Month 116: 28 views
Month 117: 27 views
Month 118: 32 views
Month 119: 31 views
Month 120: 11 views
Month 121: 24 views
Month 122: 21 views
Month 123: 40 views
Month 124: 33 views
Month 125: 31 views
Month 126: 30 views
Month 127: 46 views
Month 128: 21 views
Month 129: 40 views
Month 130: 47 views
Month 131: 18 views
Month 132: 35 views
Month 133: 50 views
Month 134: 20 views
Month 135: 41 views
Month 136: 33 views
Month 137: 52 views
Month 138: 63 views
Month 139: 49 views
Month 140: 36 views
Month 141: 24 views
Month 142: 40 views
Month 143: 33 views
Month 144: 35 views
Month 145: 24 views
Month 146: 30 views
Month 147: 16 views
Month 148: 35 views
Month 149: 25 views
Month 150: 37 views
Month 151: 47 views
Month 152: 22 views

Total Views: 2.1K

Total Downloads: 122

All Trends