Political Godfatherism and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria's Fourth Republic

In Nigeria's Fourth Republic, Political Godfatherism is not entirely a strange concept as it is a phenomenon that has played apparently in infringing on the country's democratic consolidation. It has grown so deeply into the political culture of Nigerian politicians such that it is a political new normal through which the success and relevance of any politician is deduced from the prominent names in support of his or her political ambitions. Hence democratic consolidation suffers as the interests and voices of political godfathers seem to override that of the public. Therefore, this paper examines secondary data extracted from extant literature in journal articles, textbooks, academic researches, government publications and internet materials on the impacts of godfatherism on democratic consolidation in Nigeria's Fourth Republic. The paper derives its analytical anchorage from the political elite's theory and finds out that the activities of political godfathers affect democratic consolidation in Nigeria in several ways including electoral manipulations and distortion of responsive and transparent governance as well as resulting to non-delivery of the dividends of democracy. Hence, it recommends that electoral umpires should be empowered to stand above the manipulations of political godfathers and that leadership should be made transparently responsible to the common men and there is need for public enlightenment on the debilitating effects of godfatherism on development.