ESTABLISHING LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON INTERNAL DEMOCRACY IN POLITICAL PARTIES IN NIGERIA

Résumé

It is an axiomatic fact in Nigeria that political parties specifically constitute the only harbinger and/or platform operating as a threshold for harvesting nomination and sponsorship of candidates for elective positions. As a matter of fact, political parties advance the process of recruitment of political elites as well as simultaneously mobilize the electorates for elections. The ultimate role in this chain is that political parties assume the task of providing governance to the people. Consequent on the above, the authors explored the legal framework regulating political parties and the provision of crucial tendencies of inclusivity, intra-party dynamics, leadership structure, external influences, and the judiciary as they impact the enthronement of internal party democracy. The paper therefore, detailed the fundamental nature of political parties and juxtaposed these parties with the routine operation of attendant intricacies of ensuring internal party democracy. The authors therefore maintained the need for a multifaceted landscape with robust legal provisions under the Nigerian electoral laws, notwithstanding the fact that these regulatory provisions suffered insufficient implementation, adherence, and deficit enforcement. The paper concluded that the enthronement of internal party democracy continues to face various challenges. Significantly, the work identified the inherent lacuna as well as recommended need to reinforce democratic practices in intra-party affairs in order to ensuring stern enforcement of the existing legal provisions by the courts.