ANTICIPATED WILDFIRE: POLITICAL DEFECTION AND ONE PARTY SYSTEM IN NIGERIA; FROM DE FACTO "AUTHORITARIAN DEMOCRACY" TO OLIGARCHY

Political defection in Nigeria with its attendant one party system has become more frequent and prevalent especially within the last two years. The effects of political defection on the country’s fledgling democracy is enormous and likely to usher in dictatorial and authoritarian regime. Therefore, this study critically examined political defection and one party system in Nigeria from de facto authoritarian democracy to oligarchy. The study adopted mixed method which involved eliciting data from primary and secondary sources. Z-test statistical tool was used to test the formulated hypotheses. The dangers of political defections were properly interrogated by the researchers. Major findings revealed that political defection is likely to lead to misrule and governance deficit, also, the study revealed that political defection will further expose Nigeria’s weak democratic structure. Based on the foregoing, the researchers suggested the following among others; that the electorates should ensure that they get their voters card and come out to vote. The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should speak out on this evil political development in Nigeria which if not arrested would result to dictatorship, anarchy and chaos. It is also the position of the researchers that the ethnic groups in Nigeria should eschew ethnic jingoism, and close ranks with the masses to fight this hydra headed monster and nip it in the bud