Participatory Democracy, Local Government Elections and the Politics of the States’ Ruling Parties in Nigeria
- February 11, 2021
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: IJRISS, Political Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue I, January 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Olawole Clement OLUWASUJI Ph.D, Oluwaseun Emmanuel OKAJARE
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
Abstract
In every supposedly democratic state, not only is election a means of determining the will of the people regarding their choice of political leaders, both the process and the outcome of the election should also reflect the consent and aspirations of the people as organized electorates. However, election at the local government level in Nigeria has been relegated to the background whereby its process, conduct, and outcome are often at the mercy of the States’ ruling parties and their governors. This paper interrogates the role of States ruling party in local government elections in Nigeria with particular reference to the 2017 and 2019 local government elections in Ekiti State. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of data collection. Primary data were obtained through a questionnaire and secondary data were obtained from textbooks, related journal articles, and newsprints. The paperadopted elite theory to explain States’ dominance and ‘illegitimate’ control of the local government in Nigeria. Itwas revealed among others, that local governments elections in Nigeria has always been under the stranglehold of States governors and their political parties who designed and determined the contour of the elections as well as the operations of the electoral umpire. The paper recommends among others, that the scrapping of state independent electoral commissions and its replacement withthe national electoral umpire (INEC) nationwide is imperative for deepening democracy, promoting good governance and enhancing development at the grassroots.
Keywords: Democracy, Participatory Democracy, Election, and Local Government.
