Legal Provisions And Party Politics In Nigeria: Selected Empirical Cases

Abstract

Actions and inactions of political parties in a democratic state aid to make or mar the governance of the people. The concourse of events in various political parties determines the stability, development, security and image of the state. Factually, political parties are the life wire of democratic governance. There are both critical and central to policy formulation and implementation to all levels and organs of government. Campaign of calumny, blackmail and political violence in lieu of horse trading, negotiations, compromises and constructive criticisms undermine national interest. The crux of this paper is to engage political issues laced with legal provisions to show the aberration in the political regime of our clime. It appraises the registration, finances and nomination of candidates by political parties including the tense issue of carpet-crossing in the Nigerian polity. This paper applied qualitative method of research with content analysis and narrative technique. It is found that government institutions such as Independent National Electoral Commission, Security Agencies and even the Judiciary are weak and not adequately funded to enforce compliance with Nigerian Laws in respect of party politics. In the same vein, the statutory control on the finances and expenditures of political parties is inadequate. More importantly, most political parties are involved in non-compliance with legal requirements in the electoral process. It is recommended among others that the commission should be constitutionally empowered to conduct bye-election to fill any vacant office within ninety days upon defection of any elected political office-holder. Again, the regulatory powers of the commission should be statutorily made to cover powers to investigate the finances of political parties and deregister any political party that spends more than the statutory limit in any election.