Internal Party Democracy, Party Candidature, and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria's Fourth Republic

This article investigates the major reasons accounting for the failure of internal party democracy (IPD) in Nigeria's Fourth Republic, despite extensive constitutional and other legal provisions to guarantee it. I examine the parody of IPD in Nigeria, exemplified in faulty processes employed in the nomination of political party electoral candidates. In doing so, I establish that the nonuse (practice) of IPD in the nomination of party candidates for elections weakens party unity and institutionalization, and negatively affects democratic consolidation. The article posits that attempts to institutionalize IPD through state-mandated legislations apparently do not guarantee that party leadership will abide by it in a high-formalism environment. Yet this does not undermine the necessity for performance-driven, rather than control-driven, state legislations for parties if party institutionalization and democratic consolidation will be enhanced. The research provides further grounds for understanding the intricacies of IPD, party organization, and institutionalization in a democratizing environment, such as Nigeria.