Pattern of Party Switching in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (2015 – 2021): Implication for Democratic Sustainability
Keywords:
Party Switching, Political Parties, Party Ideology, Democracy, Democratic Consolidation.Abstract
One aspect of multi-party politics in Nigeria and Africa in general continues to be party switching. Political observers in Nigeria continue to be divided over the persistent practice of the phenomenon in the Fourth Republic, which is based on politicians’ lust for power. This situation vividly supports the claim that political parties and politicians in Nigeria lack party ideologies. This study examines party switching in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, between 2015 and 2021 with a view to establishing the pattern of occurrence as well as implications for democratic sustainability in Nigeria. Data were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Authors contributed immensely to the whole write-up. In analysing the data, descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis were used. However, findings from this study revealed that party switching is more prevalent at the National level and the movement of politicians revolves around the ruling party in the quest for political gains between 2015 and 2021. Furthermore, this study ascertained that the implication of party switching for Nigeria’s democracy is detrimental; hence, it aims at distorting democracy and weakening the spirit of opposition party politics in the country. This study will be beneficial to students, researchers, political parties, politicians, CSOs/NGOs and the general body of literature. This study draws a conclusion and suggests that in order to combat the threats party switching poses to the viability of democracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, policies like internal party democracy, party discipline, party and political ideology, as well as value reorientation, should be taken into account.
Downloads
References
Ake, C. (2003). Democracy and development in Africa. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.
Aleyomi, M. (2013). Election and politics of party defection in Nigeria: A clue from Kogi State. Covenant University. Journal of Politics and International Affairs, 1(1), 2-13.
Almond, G. A., Powell, G. B., Strom, K., & Dalton, R. J. (Eds.). (2004). Comparative politics today: A world view. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Awofeso, O., & Irabor, P. (2016). Party cross-carpeting in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: Cases and
ILORIN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT VOL. 7 NO. 1., JUNE. 2023
79
causes. Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 6(3), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v6i3.10000
Badejo, B. T., Agunyai, S. C., & Buraimo, S. O. (2016). The politics of defection and power game in Nigeria: Insights from the 7th lower legislative chamber. Public Policy and Administration Research, 6(9), 6-14. http://www.iiste.org
Baradat, L. P. (9th Eds.). (2006). Political ideologies: Their origins and impact (pp. 8). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson & Prentice Hall.
Bernard, C. (1998). Democracy and political participation. Oxford: Oxford University Press Ltd.
Blunt, M. (1964). Carpet crossing. Parliamentary Affairs, 18(1), 82-91.
Bryce, J. (1921). The American commonwealth and modern democracies. New York City: Praeger.
Chang, A. (2009). Reelection incentives and defection: Party switching in the Japanese liberal democratic party. Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica.
Chikendu, P. N. (2nd Eds.). (2003). Nigerian politics and government (pp. 24). Enugu: Academic Publishing Company.
Dassonneville, R. (2014). Political sophistication and vote intention switching: the timing of electoral volatility in the 2009 German election campaign. German Politics, 23(3), 174-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2014.949682
Desposato, S., & Scheiner, E. (2008). Governmental centralization and party affiliation: Legislator strategies in Brazil and Japan. American Political Science Review, 102(4), 509-524.
Dicey, A. V. (1905). Introduction to study of law and opinion (pp. 448). London: Macmillian Pub. Ltd.
Edet, L. (2017). Politics of defection and its implications on Nigeria’s democracy. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS), 3(5), 375-384, http://www.ijhsss.com
Evans, K., & Hadley, N. (2010). Party switching and the goals of members in the US Congress: The cases of Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. Paper prepared for WPSA, San Francisco, CA.
Fashagba, J. (2014). Party switching in the senate under Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 20(4), 516-541.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1999). The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lagos: Federal Government Press.
Friedrich, E. S. (2010). Institutionalizing political parties in Kenya. Kenya: Sunburst Communications Ltd.
Fulford, N. (2017). Why is ideology important in politics? https://www.quora.com/why-is-ideology-important-in-politics
Goeke, M. (2016). Political stability and peace through party engineering: The case of Lesotho. Politikon. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2016.1146494
Heywood, A. (2002). Politics: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC, 2015) Report. Palgrave: Macmillan, New York. http://www.inecnigeria.org/?page_id=18
Jan, J. (1958). The role of ideologies in politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Janada, K. (2009). Laws against party switching, defecting or floor crossing in national parliaments. The Legal Regulation of Political Parties, the Working Paper 2.
Johari, J. C. (2008). Principles of modern political science (pp. 423). New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, PVT Ltd.
Joseph, P. (2014). Incessant defection among politicians worries lawyers. Daily Post, February 17 &
ILORIN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT VOL. 7 NO. 1., JUNE. 2023
80
18, p. 18. https://dailypost.ng/
Malthora, G. C. (2005). Anti-defection law in India and the Commonwealth. New Delhi: Metropolitan Book Co Pvt. Ltd.
Mbah, P. (2011). Party defection and democratic consolidation in Nigeria, 1999-2009. Afro-Asian Journal of Social Sciences, 2(3), 1-21.
Mckee, S. C., & Yoshinaka, A. (2015). Late to the parade: Party switchers in contemporary US Southern Legislatures. Party Politics, 21(6), 957-969.
National Democratic Institute (2013). Political parties and democracy in theoretical and practical perspectives: Developing parties policies. Author.
Nnoli, O. (2003). Introduction to politics. Enugu: SNAAP Press Ltd.
Nokken, T., & Poole, K. (2002). Congressional party defection in American history. Being a paper prepared for delivery at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco on August 29 2002.
Odunze, H. (2013). Leaders and political parties without ideologies. Vanguard Newspaper. December 12, https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/leaders-political-partieswithout-ideologies/
Ojo, E. (2008). Challenges of sustainable democracy in Nigeria. Ibadan: John Achers.
Okwaraji, P. (2010). Political party, defection and the law: The Tide. November 16. www.thetidenewsonline.com/
Omotola, S. (2009). Nigerian parties and ideology. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, 1(3), 612-634.
Oyovbaire, S. E. (2007). The crisis of governance in Nigeria. Convocation lecture delivered on Thursday 15th March 2007 on the occasion of the 23rd Convocation Ceremony of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Schumpeter, J. A. (Eds.). (1990). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. Harper and Bros.
Webb, D., David, M. F., & Holliday, L. (2002). Political parties in advanced industrial democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yakubu, Y., & Bamalli, M. J. (2019). Footloose legislators: Implications of legislative cross-carpeting on multi-party politics in Nigeria’s fourth republic. International Journal of Recent Innovations in Academic Research, 3(2), 1-8.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ridwan Adedamola YUSUFF, Damilola Taiye AGBALAJOBI
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). You are free to share and adapt the material, provided proper credit is given.
