Intra Party Politics and Grassroots Governance in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended mandated that political parties remained the only vehicle for sponsoring candidates and as such independent candidates cannot contest elections. This has affected the nature of party politics, and elections has been highly contentious since the return of democracy in 1999. The grassroots which ought to be the bedrock of democracy lack credible candidates and platform to promote good governance. Documentary data were retrieved from relevant books, journal articles, newspaper publications and internet sources. Findings revealed that majority of the political parties in Ogun State lack internal democracy and the interplay at this level were transferred to local government and general elections. Elections were hardly conducted every three years in all the 20 local governments in Ogun State and many states across the federation. Governors appoint their cronies as caretaker and transition committees. Political elites, especially, the state governors operate the local governments as extension of state government. The party at the state level often record a landslide victory in the local government elections. The paper concluded that intra party politics has not translated to grassroot democracy, good governance, therefore, local government has become a shadow of itself. The paper recommended that there should be a constitutional review to accommodate the specific number of years election should hold at the grassroots level. Political parties should adhere to their guidelines strictly and maintain internal democracy. SIECs should be scrapped and INEC mandated to monitor the activities of these parties.