Role Of Political Parties In Democratic Governance

Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
Democratic governance with its ideal of elective representation,
freedom of choice of leaders, rule of law, freedom of expression,
accountability etc has become the acceptable system of government all
over the world. It is a form of government in which the supreme power
of a political community rest on popular sovereignty. According to
oyovbaire (1987) democracy as a system of government seeks to realize
a generally recognized common good through a collective initiation and
discussion of policy questions concerning public affairs and which
delegat authority to agent to implement the broad decisions made by
the people through majority vote. Thus, in contemporary times,
democracy has been referred to as the expression of popular will of the
political community through elected representatives. The contemporary
democracy according to Raphael (1976) rest on representative
government.
Democratic governance in Nigeria has been a different thing when
compared to what is obtainable in other part of the world. The respect
for human right and the rule law which are the main features of
democracy are not visible especially between 1999 and 2007; election
rigging and gangsterism is the order of the day that one can hardly
differentiate between democratic government and autocracy.
In modern societies, political parties are very essential to political
process. They have become veritable instrument or adjunct of
democracy in any democratic system. Political parties are not only
instrument for capturing political power, but they are also vehicles for
the aggregation of interests and ultimate satisfaction of such interests
through the control of government. Obviously political parties are
crucial to the sustenance of democratic governance. As Agbaje (1999)
notes that the extent to which political parties aggregate freely,
articulate, represent and organize determines the level of accountability
in public life including access to and use of power as well as political
performance. Merkel (1977:99) summarized the basic functions of
political parties as follows:
a. Recruitment and selection of leadership personnel for government
offices
b. Generation of programmes and policies for government
c. Coordination and control of governmental organs
d. Social integration through satisfaction and reconciliation of group
demands or the provision of common belief system or ideology
e. Social integration of individuals by mobilization of support and by
socialization
Generally, political parties are very essential to democratic governance. It
constitutes a central instrument of democratic governance. It provides the
means of promoting accountability, collective action, popular participation,
inclusiveness, legitimacy and accountability through the integration of their
competing principles, ideologies and goals for eventual control of the
government in the state. Political parties are the intermediate institution
mediating the affairs of both the people and personnel and agencies that
exercise state power.
In Nigeria, the political parties usually are formed along ethnic,
cultural, geo political and religious lines. In everyday activities of
government one notices the fostering of primordial loyalties such as ethnic
sensivity and overt projection of other selfish political tendencies as a
result, the political class has always remained bereft of viable political
ideology on which the nation’s political future could be anchored. The
bankruptcy in ideology and vision has reduced party politics to a bread and
butter game where monetization of political process is the bedrock of
loyalty and support. This has eroded the aim of the democratic system.
Since military disengaged from political power in may 1999, the PDP
has dominated governance in Nigeria. After eight years of the party in
government which earned the respect and admiration of most Nigerian
electorates at the polls due to its programmes and policies, the party is
loathed in the country. The average Nigeria encounters frustration,
disillusionment and psycho moral dislocation owing to the failure of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government to deliver the expected
dividends of democracy.
The task of this research is to examine the role of the ruling PDP in
the democratic governance in Nigeria’s fourth republic between (1999
2007).

1.2 Statement of Problem
The emergence of democratic governance in Nigerian political system in
1999 was a land mark in the political development of Nigeria. After
fifteen years of persistent dictatorship, the return of democracy was
received with pump and peagentry by civil societies, labour union, civil
rights organization etc. Hope was very high in the area of human right
which was completely absent during the dictatorship rule.
It was expected that the dividend of democracy would be realized
through the political parties which are the means through which the
politician reach the public and make their promises and manifestoes
available to the people.
This research therefore focuses on investigating the role of Nigerian
political parties in democratic governance since 1999-2007 with
emphasis on PDP. The investigation would be guided by the following

research questions:
1. How does the circumstance leading to the emergence and formation
of political parties’ impact on internal democracy in the party?
2. Did the programmes enhance democratic governance in Nigeria
between 1999 and 2007?
3. How were these programmes implemented to provide good
governance to the people of Nigeria?

1.3 Objectives of The Study
The purpose of the study is to highlight the role of political parties in
democratic government with the ruling PDP as a case study (1999
2007).
The study will critically analyze the issues as follows:
1. To examine the circumstance leading to the formation of political
party and its impact on internal democracy of the party.
2. To examine the programmes of the party with a view of
establishing their relevance to democratic governance.
3. To determine whether these programmes and policies were
implemented with a view to enhance democratic governance.

1.4 Significance of The Study
This work has two aspect of significance: firstly, it will theoretically
increase the existing body of knowledge in the scholarship on
political parties and democratic governance in Nigeria.
Secondly, the research will practically be of immense value to
political leaders and policy makers in Nigeria and will also enlighten
and educate the masses on responsibility of parties in democratic
governance by so doing; it will go a long way in providing practical
solution to some of the problems of political parties in Nigeria
democratic system.
Equally, the study will serve as a contribution to the measures to be
taken to enhance sustainable democracy in Nigeria.
Finally the study will serve as a motivation for further inquiry
in the area of political parties and governance in Nigeria.

1.5 Literature Review
A political party can be define as a group of people or an organized
group of people who seek to control the government in order to put
their ideology or programme into practice . According to Nwankwo
(1990), political party can be define as an organized group of
individuals seeking to seize power of government in order to enjoy
the benefit to be derived from such control. He further opines that a
political party exists primarily as an electoral machine for gaining
power with coherent philosophy and its deep ideological aim.
Therefore, a political party can be summed up as an organized group
of people or individuals whose intentions are to control the
apparatus of the state if given the opportunity to form government.
Shively (1997) sees political party as a group of officials or
would be officials who are linked with a sizeable group of citizens
into an organization; the chief object of this organization, is to ensure
that its officials attain power or are maintained in power.
Joseph (1979) in his own contribution sees political party as a
formal organization whose self conscious primary purpose is to place
and maintain in public office persons who will control alone or in
coalition the machinery of government.
Heywood (2002) is of the view that a political party is a group
of people that is organized for the purpose of winning government
power by elections or other means. Heywood points out that four
characteristic which usually distinguish parties from other groups
are:
1. Political parties aim to exercise government power by winning
political office (small parties may nevertheless use election more
to gain a platform than to win power)
2. Political parties are organized bodies with a formal card carrying
membership. This distinguishes them from broader and more
diffuse social movement.
3. Parties typically adopt a broad issue of focus addressing each of
the major area of government policy ( small parties, however,
may have a single issue focus, thus resembling interest groups)
4. To varying degrees, parties are united by shared political
preferences and a general ideological identity.
In simple language, a political party is a group of persons
bounded in policy and opinion in support of a general political
cause, which essentially is the pursuit, capture and retention
for as long as democratically feasible, of government and it
offices. In other words, political party is a group that seeks to
elect candidate to public office by supplying them with a label
of party identification by which they are known to the
electorate. A political party is therefore; at least do three
things to its members and on lookers:
1. It’s a label in the minds of its members and wider public
especially the electorate.
2. It is an organization that recruits and campaign for
candidates seeking election and selection into public office.
3. It is a set of leaders who try to organize and control the
legislative and executive branches of government.
A political party therefore, is a group of people and an
organization like other group or organization, except it is
distinguished from any other group by its unique objective
which in a democratic settings, is seeking control of
government through nominating its candidates and presenting
its programmes for endorsement via the electoral process in
competition with other parties.
Duverger (1964) emphasized that the general development of parties
which tends to deviate from the democratic regime and asserts that
growing centralization decision making is increasingly diminishing the
influence of leaders upon members on the one hand and strengthening the
influence of leaders upon members on the other. Again Duverger, is of the
view that we are living in totally artificial nation of democracy forged by
lawyers on the basis of eighteenth century philosophical utilitarianism,
namely; the conception of democracy as government of the people; by the
people providing general happiness for the greatest number. In practice the
theory ceases to exist because all government tend to be oligarchic, which
shows the domination of the greater number by a few. Therefore,
democracy must reflect liberty for the people and for all section of the
people. The author is right in opening up or revealing this obscure aspect of
democratic parties for analysis, the principal objective of this work is not to
study the social composition of the parties but their doctrines.
In their contribution to the study, sklar and Whitaker (1963) survey
the role of Nigerian political parties in political and territorial integration,
two key analytical variables postulated by the editors in the introduction.
According to them, the emergency of political parties in Nigeria serves as an
additional cleavage to integrated political system. The emergence of
political parties and their leaders appear sectional in the approach to
national issues and unity since their loyalty flow in the direction of their
ethnic groups and regions. Ultimately their loyalty transcends that of the
nation and therefore, they seem unable to forge an integrated political
system.
In their own contribution to knowledge, Coleman and Rosbergy
(1958) examine the role of political parties in national integration in tropical
Africa using the same combination of behaviouralism and structural
functionalism as employed by Coleman in his early classes on the
background of nationalism in Nigeria. They see the role of political party as
instrumental in the functioning and the development of the new African
society and the political system of which they are a part. Since Nigeria
belong to Africa and has the knowledge that a section of the book
contributed by Richard .l. sklar rosbberg’s work is of great importance to us
in our presence research. The two scholar opinioned that unlike the
relatively stabilize national society of the old, more highly developed
countries; there is an almost complete institutional vacuum at the central
or national level in the new state of tropical Africa.
Agawal et al (1994). See political party as a voluntary association
organized by the persons bound with common interest or aim, which seek
to acquire or retain power through the election of it candidate into public
office. In modern societies, political parties are distinct from other
organization. They rely on permanent structure and organization with
define offices and roles which enhance their mobilization of supporters.
Also they manifest hierarchical order from the grassroots to the highest
level of government. More strikingly, political parties seek to put their
candidates into public offices through election in order to realize the
conscious objectives, which bond their members. Political parties have
become essential to the development of political process. They have
become veritable instrument of democracy. In any democratic system,
political parties are not only instruments for capturing political power but
they are also vehicle for the aggregation of interest and ultimately the
satisfaction of such interests through the control of government.
Obviously, political parties are crucial to the sustenance of
democracy and governance. As Agbaje (1999) noted that the extent to
which political parties aggregate freely, articulate, represent and organize
determines the level of accountability in public life including access to and
use of power as well as political performance.
James (1983), pointed out that political parties that emerged during
the period of the anti colonial struggle, unfortunately were formed along
tribal/ethnic lines i.e., the northern people’s congress (NPC) Hausa/Fulani,
national council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) eastern and the action
group (AG) Yoruba. The author has it that this has been the trend of party
politics which later formed the background of the emergence of political
parties in Nigeria’s second republic. Thus, despite all attempts to establish
national parties as opposed to the ethnic/region parties in the second
republic nearly all the parties, NPN, UPN, GNPP and PAP seemed to posses
some elements of national outlook. This assertion was supported by james
ojiako’s publication of the result of the 1979 elections which showed how
the people voted across ethnic lines narrowing down the study to the
contemporary trends in party politics in Nigeria and the behaviors of
political parties in the present dispensation, we note that in vibrant
democratic state, political parties are not seen as mere platform for
contesting elections or political appointments rather their function
according to MOS Olisa, should include:
Providing political education for their members,
Informing members in government offices about public opinion or
national issues as well as maintaining as strong ideological base that
would ensure its survival in the future elections.
After the 1999 general elections, there was glamour for more political
parties which the chairman of the independent national committee
approved for the 2003 election with the aim of providing a level playing
ground for the parties. Still the aim seems to have been defeated but who
knows?
In contemporary times, one of the opposition to Abacha’s self
succession was the G18 which metamorphosed into 9-34 then became the
vanguard for the formation of big pan Nigerian party carried out by the
independent national electoral commission (INEC), three political parties
met INEC’s condition – the PDP , APP (ANDP) and AD. Other parties that
were unregistered started to merge with the registered ones. The
constitutional right group attributed the failure of the three political parties
and the consultant “unholy” alliance. This is perhaps why all the parties
presently seem to be unsettled and porous. Never the less the PDP hijacked
the realm o affairs by winning the majority of seats in the two federal
houses, occupying majority of 36 state governments and producing the
president of the nation.
In 2003, 27 more political parties were registered there were first
registered on 20th June 2002 and they are; all progressive grand alliance
(APGA) national democratic party (NDP) and united Nigerians people’s
party. On 3rd December 2002, additional twenty four (24)political parties
were registered and they are; all peoples liberation party(APLP) better
Nigeria progressive party(BNPP) community party of Nigeria (CPN),
democratic alliance (DA), liberation democratic party of Nigeria (LDPN),
masses movement of Nigeria (MMN) national action council (NAC), national
mass movement of Nigeria(NMMN) national reformation party (NRP), new
Nigeria people’s party (NNPP), peoples mandate party (PMP), peoples
redemption party(PRP) peoples salvation party(PSP) progressive action
congress(PAC) green party of Nigeria (GPN).
Moreover, on 7th December 2002 additional two parties were
registered namely; African renaissance party (ARP) and united Democratic
Party (UDP). This number came to be because of the challenge of INEC to
the court by Gani Fawebimi and leaders of some unregistered parties then.
But still in the election, the incumbent government of PDP maneuvered and
won almost all the seats in the 2003 election.
The topic of this study and its aim will not be complete without a
look at some review of democratic government. In one of its special edition
and columnar on Africa’s new democracy, the European Acp journal takes a
critical look on how Africa embarked on the part of democracy and now
predictable doubts are beginning to toss in not only are people increasingly
asking whether the western democratic model is a suitable one for Africa
and Nigeria in particular Africa who are European partners are the agents
of democracy and they sell it as a commodity of the third world.
According to Lewis (1965), all who are affected by a decision should
have the chance to participate in making that decision either directly or
through chosen representation. The will of the majority shall prevail.
He posited that, in the first definition of democracy, the man who
stands for election represent groups with different ideas, interest or
characteristics, and the real contest between these groups. So to exclude
the losing groups from participation in decision making, clearly violates the
first definition of democracy. He asserts that Europe and France practice
class society where single party is appropriate. In Africa and particularly in
Nigeria, we practice plural society, which is not just irrelevant; it is totally
immoral in consistency with the first definition of democracy. It is also
destructive of any prospect on building a nation in which different people
might live together in harmony. According to him, the problem with Africa
is the principle of plurality which is consequential of differences in tribes,
languages, religion, race, in a long tradition of mutual hostility. In fact,
people are mutually antipathetic they are historical enemies.
The democratic problem in a plural society remains the creation of
political institution which gives all the various groups a single opportunity
to participate in decision making. Therefore, a single party which include a
representative of all the various groups and encourage full discussion
within the party framework would be superior to a competition for power
between parties representing different tribes, race or religion, political
party as one of the recent inventions of the human race cannot be avoided
in any maws democracy because of the masses are to vote, they have to
learn how to cast their vote.
The literature reveals that the relationship between political parties
and democratic governance is hinged on the historical development of the
party and party structure. However, the sweeping wind of democratization
since the 1990s has impacted on political processes and party systems. The
existing literature appears to have neglected this aspect of the
development of Nigerian political parties. Also we discovered that not
much has been written on the role of political parties in Nigerian nascent
democracy. This study is an attempt to fill this gap. This study seeks to
examine some of the political economic factors of transformation of
Nigerian political parties, their roles and how these have impacted on
democratic governance in Nigeria.

1.6 Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework adopted in this study is the group theory.
The theory was adopted because of the strong view of scholars such
as Bentley (1980) who was of the strong opinion that institutional
approach should not be used for political analysis as these
institutions are static as against politics which is dynamic and full of
activities. He argued that politics is a group affair and each group is
competing against one another for power. The group Bentley, added,
is a pattern of process involving mass of activities and not a collection
of individual. The group emerges from frequent interaction among its
individual members which is directed by their shared interest. The
interest leads to the organization of the groups.
Bentley’s group theory received the blessings of scholars like
David Truman, Robert Daniel; grant McConnell, Theodora J. Lewis,
earl lathans among others. They saw power as diffused among many
interest groups competing against each other. Earl Lathan described
a society as a simple universe of groups which combine, break and
form coalitions and castellation of power in a restless alteration.
The adoption of this theory as basis for the examination of the
role of political parties in a democratic governance in Nigeria is as a
result of the inter play of forces and struggle for power among
different political parties which are formed along various
ethnic/religious groups in the Nigerian society which resulted shortly
after independence. Political parties were formed along ethnic or
sectional line.
Therefore, the adoption of the group theory would help us to
examine how the roles and activities of Peoples Democratic Party affect
generally political activities in Nigeria and in particular democratic
governance.

1.7 Hypotheses
1. The circumstance leading to the emergence and formation of
political parties tended to undermine internal democracy and
national development in Nigeria.
2. Some programmes of people’s Democratic Party (PDP) tended to
be anti Democratic.
3. The implementation of PDP programmes between 1999 and 2007
seemed not to promote good governance.

1.8 The Scope and Limitations of The Study
The scope of this study will cover essentially the role of political
parties in democratic governance in Nigeria between 1999-2007. The
study will also ex-ray the part played by the people’s Democratic
Party (PDP) as the ruling party during the period.
The work is limited to library research and other documented
materials.

1.9 Method of Data Collection/Analysis
Data collection: The materials for this study were sourced
mostly from written works from libraries and archives they include:
text books, journals, newspapers, and magazines. In fact, this
research work is mainly based on secondary data.
Data analysis: this analysis of data will be descriptive and
historical. It will also adopt a situational approach in the data
collected was examined to avoid going out of context. Also, content
analysis method will be used to analyze method statements of some
elites.

Definition of Concepts
To avoid ambiguity and misconception of terms, it is
imperative that a vivid and clear explanation of terms is given.
Democracy
Democracy as a concept in social science, has attracted varied
definitions among scholars for the purpose of this discourse,
democracy is a form of government which the supreme power of the
political community rest on popular sovereignty.
According to oyovbaire (1987) democracy as a system which
seek to realize a generally recognized common good through a
collective initiation and discussion of policy questions concerning
public affairs and which delegated authority to agents to implement
the broad decisions made by the people through majority vote.
The most popular definition of democracy was that of
Abraham Lincoln, which sees Democracy as the government of the
people, by the people and for the people. This definition is widely
accepted.
Governance
In the literature of political science, governance has been
regarded as nebulous, ambiguous and vague. In this discourse, we
have adopted dozie’s definition of the term.
Governance according to Dozie (1999), relates to the totality of
processes entailed in the exercise and management of the collective
will of a people or group under a defined authority or constitution.
Governance is not only concerned with political activities and
institutions such as economy, family, and other human
congregations. Thus, governance can be regarded as the provision of
leadership throughout a given society for the actualization of
common good.