Judicialisation of Party Primaries in the 2023 Nigerian General Elections: Implications for Internal Party Democracy

The 2023 general elections in Nigeria were hugely litigated, resulting in many court decisions across party lines. The scenario unpacked the sustained role of the Nigerian courts in settling internal party electoral controversies. Yet, this paper examined the causes, dynamics, and implications of this leaning by investigating selected high-profile cases, especially the debates surrounding the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary, which involved a former Senate President, Lawan Ahmed, and the incumbent Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio. Using doctrinal legal analysis, judicial rulings, augmented by current literature, are analyzed to show how varying readings of the Electoral Act 2022, political party constitutions, and intra-party nomination processes led to disparate primary election results at both tribunals and appellate court levels. The study also explicates how increasing dependence on judicial intervention opened up systemic fragility in intra-party democracy, such as confusing candidate nomination processes, contentious disputes, and shrewd cases by contenders. Results reveal that while court oversight provides constitutional checks on party abuse of power, judicial overbearing influence can weaken party independence and electoral stability. The study recommends reforms to improve internal party democracy, clarify statutory provisions, and reassess the balance between judicial review and political self-regulation in Nigeria’s electoral system.