INTERNAL DEMOCRACY OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTORAL OUTCOMES: A STUDY OF STATUTES, ELECTORAL DISPUTES AND LEGAL DECISIONS IN NIGERIA (1999-2019)

A thriving intra party democracy (IPD) culture is key to developing and sustaining sound democratic traditions. In Nigeria and other emerging democracies, the practice of IPD is problematic and characterised by several challenges, including, but not limited to, the resistance of political parties to state regulation. The challenges to the effective practice of IPD in Nigeria have necessitated significant legal and institutional reforms over the years. However, the reluctance of party officials to abide by and enforce these reforms has rendered – and continues to render - the laws ineffective. Using a socio-legal approach, this thesis examines the regulatory framework of IPD and how it has shaped electoral outcomes in Nigeria. The study draws on institutionalism and institutional legal theory to examine political parties, electoral laws, and judicial decisions in relation to IPD in Nigeria. The study further examines how these institutions have shaped the practice of IPD and reinforced or weakened the country’s nascent democracy. The Doctrinal Legal Research and Qualitative Organisational research methods of data gathering and analysis were adopted for this study. In the end, the thesis was able to identify the reasons for the reluctance of party officials to conform to best practices in IPD. The study further found that the reality of electoral democracy warrants a re-evaluation of the existing institutions, electoral statutes, and jurisprudence on which IPD in post-independence Nigeria is founded. The study recommends legislative reforms to strengthen IPD based on Nigeria’s peculiar electoral, legislative and judicial experiences. It further recognises the need to develop a unique set of electoral and legislative systems and jurisprudence for Nigeria that aligns with its people, culture, and history. These recommendations are premised on the argument that democracy as a governance model should respect the cultural relativity of peoples while also sustaining some of the universal attributes of democratic norms.