The Contradictions of “Party Supremacy”: Lessons from Nigeria’s Eighth National Assembly

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
'Tola Odubajo ◽  
Derin Ologbenla
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Party Members

As one of the critical elements of democracy, a functional political party plays major roles in the political process of a state. One such role is the provision of a platform by which its members emerge as elected officials in government. A critical dimension of Nigeria’s democratic experience in the Fourth Republic is the issue of conflict of interests among party oligarchies and party members elected to political office. This article attempts to interrogate the causal factors of this development by analysing the triggers of divergences within political parties whose members supposedly share similar ideological leanings. Specifically, the article considers the causes and effects of the issues thrown up in the aftermath of the emergence processes of the principal officers in the two chambers of parliament of the eighth National Assembly. This it does in the context of the normative interpretation of “party supremacy”.  As samples, we isolate three cases, after which the qualitative method is employed to elaborate on the data gathered from secondary sources.

Sources of political parties’ campaign expenditure in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: Examining the 2015 General Election

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-389
Author(s):  
Babayo Sule ◽  
Bakri Mat ◽  
Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani ◽  
Saalah Yakubu Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
General Election ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Campaign Expenditure ◽  
The Subject

A periodic election is a fundamental pillar and backbone of any democratic regime, and for a proper election to take place there must be some activities, most especially by parties and contestants to vote for them most especially competing to secure the electorates. These activities require huge expenditure from the parties and their financiers through campaigns, media advertisements and other related activities. The problem is that parties and their candidates are allowed, in Nigeria constitutionally and by the Electoral Act 2010, to source their campaign finance privately, which has led to illegal financing. The objective of this paper is to examine the sources of parties’ campaign expenditure in the Fourth Republic, taking the 2015 General Election as the case study. The research used a qualitative method of data collection and analysis where both primary and secondary sources were used. The primary source was an in-depth personal interview with some selected informants/participants from the categories of stakeholders in the electoral process, parties, and agencies responsible for regulating their activities. The secondary source was the use of available documents such as books, journals and Internet sources on the subject matter of the study. The data obtained were analysed and interpreted using thematic analytical interpretations from the informants’ views and the existing data in the field. The research discovered that there are basically six major sources of campaign expenditure for parties and that some of the sources are illegal and the spending has violated the regulations. The research recommends thorough supervision and monitoring of the sources of parties’ campaign expenditure and the spending process.

scholarly journals THE PROVISIONS OF WATER AND GARBAGE POLLUTION IN STREET, DRAINAGE AND BUILDING ACT, 1974: A VIEW IN ISLAMIC LAW

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Basir Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Paper Analysis ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Rights And Interests

The statute relating to environmental conservation plays an important role to protect water and garbage pollution. The establishment and enforcement of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 is to protect the people’s rights and interests in order to safeguard the environment from being polluted. There are a few provisions in this Act relating to water and garbage pollution and protection of water resources from any pollution. Therefore, this article will examine the provisions in relation to water and garbage pollution in the Act and then identify similar discussions in Islamic law, which deal with the protection of water and garbage pollution. A qualitative method is used to obtain data for this paper. Analysis of documents from primary and secondary sources was executed inductively, deductively and comparatively using the Act and Islamic reference sources which was then documented in a descriptive report.

scholarly journals An Exploratory Study of the Political Abuse of Women in Afghanistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-391
Author(s):  
Isra Sarwar ◽  
Shabnam Gul ◽  
Muhammad Faizan Asghar
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Abuse Of Women ◽  
Status Of Women

Women, the 48.45% of total Afghan population usually termed and referred as the most victimized clan of Afghanistan. It is engendered notion and perceived as reality around the world. Undoubtedly, Mujahidin and later the Taliban have made the situation miserable for women. But, comparatively, women in Afghanistan did not face as many cruelties earlier during Taliban regime as they suffering today. They were secured, honored and allowed to participate equally in all spheres of life ranging from socio-economic to religio-political during the reign of Taliban. Majority of the religious elite among the Muslims interprets the religious teachings according to its own requirements to assure legitimacy particularly in the context of women. Same is the case with Afghanistan, which, being the buffer state, had been remained epicenter for political interests of world powers and who used its soil to expand or legitimize their authority, violate human rights specifically women as wartime strategy to achieve the goals. This intricate study with reference to the manipulated status of women is based on qualitative method and will explore the political dimensions where women have been used as wartime strategy to legitimize the power. It is based on explanatory and exploratory goals of the study. The thematic and observational approach will be used to analyze the available qualitative data by using secondary sources.

scholarly journals Unabated Corruption in the Government of Nigeria Despite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission: Who Bells the Cat?

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-58
Author(s):  
SALISU OJONEMI PAUL ◽  
Prof. Chikelue Ofuebe
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Public Office ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Financial Crimes ◽  
Seasonal Basis ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Government

This paper examines the different dimensions and continuous corrupt practices in the federal government of Nigeria amidst President Buhari administration’s anti-corruption songs and war (2015 – date). It is observed that the menaces of infrastructural deficits are persistent and unabated due to billions of dollars that are carted away by both political and public office holders on a seasonal basis, and misfit appointment of public officials popularly referred to as ‘favoritism’ and the ‘lopsidedness.’ The study which is qualitative with data gathered from secondary sources. The paper found the fact that political and public office holders across administrations in Nigeria perceived corruption as a worthwhile venture despite the campaign against corruption. It is also noticed that the EFCC created to lead the anti-corruption war only barks without biting. The study advocated, among others, that the National Assembly should immediately reevaluate and review the Nigerian administration of the criminal justice system.  

Pivotality and Turnout: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Aftermath of a Tied Election

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Enos ◽  
Anthony Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Scale Field ◽  
Large Scale Field ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Rare Opportunity

Many citizens abstain from the political process, and the reasons for this abstention are of great interest and importance. Most scholars and pundits assume that greater electoral competition and the increased chance of pivotality will motivate citizens to participate. We test this hypothesis through a large-scale field experiment that exploits the rare opportunity of a tied election for major political office. Informing citizens that an upcoming election will be close has little mobilizing effect. Any effect that we do detect is concentrated among a small set of frequent voters. The evidence suggests that increased pivotality is not a solution to low turnout and the predominant models of turnout focusing on pivotality are of little practical use.

scholarly journals Politics of Godfatherism and its Implication on Socio-Economic and Political Development of Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Ahmed ◽  
Mustapha Alhaji Ali
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The Political ◽  
Elite Theory ◽  
Primary Election ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Political Act ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Direct Primary

In contemporary democracy politics of godfatherism has become a universal issue in the political development of many countries Nigeria inclusive. The paper studied the implication of politics of godfatherism on the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. Certainly, the politics of godfatherism have entered every hook and crannies of the nation and have affected the political structure of the country. This paper is qualitative in nature; data were obtained from secondary sources where numerous articles, newspapers, magazines, books reports, and archives were systematically reviewed. In elucidating the topic under examination, the researcher used Elite theory. This theory was advocated by Vilfredo Pareto in 1935, the postulation of the theory is that elites are replaced by another group of elites, meaning that the majority are unavoidably governed by the minority. The study found that the politics of godfatherism has a negative impact on the socio-economic and political development of the nation by confining power in the hands of the few elites at the expense of the masses (electorates). This has affected the socio-economic and political development of the nation, and by extension led to inter-party and intra-party defections, decamping’s and conflicts among the party members. Therefore, the study recommends the implementation of the direct primary election in the selecting candidate into elective positions. In addition to that, INEC should make a law that will discourage money politics and should as well punish the culprit involved in such an illegal political act.

scholarly journals Assessment of Political Participation and Democratic Governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fuad Othman ◽  
Victor Vincent Okpe
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The Political ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Popular Participation ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Fourth Republic

Generally, this study examined the state of political participation and democratic governance in Nigeria’s fourth republic. It relied mainly on descriptive qualitative research approach and secondary sources of data such as journal articles, books, reports from political parties amongst other works from scholars on politics, democracy and governance in the fourth republic. The study equally adopted the liberal democratic theory as its framework of analysis. The emerged result revealed that political participation and democratic governance in the fourth republic had not been in the favor of the populace. It further revealed negative indices against the system such as political and electoral violence, corruption, weak institutions of democracy, godfatherism, poor provision of positive leadership, poverty, inequalities, political intolerance, manipulation of electoral processes, blatant act of impunity, lawlessness, selfish interest and militarization. They have led to lack of trust on the political leaders, and by implication, remains a huge challenge against popular participation, democratic governance and consolidation. These ills are in sharp contrast with the tenets of the liberal democratic theory. Based on the above revelations, therefore, the study believes that it is pertinent that the political leadership must not only practice what is obtainable in the fourth republic constitution but must equally adhere to the doctrines of a liberal democratic system. The political system and the electoral processes must be violent free to encourage popular participation and consolidation of democracy. The citizens must also endeavor to hold their leaders accountable.

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