HISTORICISING PARTY INTERNAL DEMOCRACY AND THE CHALLENGE OF DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC, 1999-2023

The main thrust of this paper is to historicise party internal democracy and the challenge of democratic consolidation in the Nigeria’s Fourth Republic between 1999 and 2023. It explains that the teething problem of party internal democracy has been described as a major cause of intra-party wrangling, party defection and so on rocking the fabrics of the Nigerian political parties especially since the return to civil rule in 1999. This problem has resulted in making the citizens to become atrophied by cynicism and mistrust of government and people in government. The paper, therefore, argues that party internal democracy has constituted a major problem hindering democratic consolidation in Nigeria. The paper critically examines major defections carried out by some politicians as a result of problem of party internal democracy and its implication on democratic consolidation during the first twenty-four years of the birth of the Fourth Republic. It concludes by suggesting ways of addressing the political menace in order to build up the country’s democracy from being nascent. The methodological approach adopted in this paper is historical, thematic and qualitative. Sources of information include primary and secondary materials derived from newspapers and extant literature.