ABSTRACT

Independent National Electoral Commission is constitutionally empowered to conduct a transparent election in Nigeria, but the seeming declining interest to participate on the electoral system by the electorates’ calls for questioning. This study therefore aims at establishing the causes of voting apathy among the Nigerian electorates. The study adopted both Survey Research Design and Secondary Sources of Data Collection as Method of information gathering, while Rational Choice Theory was chosen as the theoretical foundation. Findings revealed that poor political and voters education in congruence with low level of education, illiteracy, especially whereby majority of voters (about 50%) neglect to pick up their permanent voters cards; and could not be accredited to vote; that the nature of Nigerian politics is another factor since Nigeria politics is labelled politics of acrimony, bitterness; that since elected representatives fail to deliver on their campaign promises, that the electorates have lost trust in the government and finds it difficult to participate in the electoral process. The study recommends amongst others; the provision of security; ensuring and sustaining justice; and guaranteeing of liberty etc.

I.            INTRODUCTION

Voting apathy in recent times have become seemingly an innocuous issues in the democratic process in Nigeria. While the purpose of every government is to develop and implement policies for the benefit of its citizens, it is also the right and responsibility of the citizens to elect their leaders through the ballot. A nation’s political foundations are built on elections. [1] asserted that voting is a basic process that enables the citizens to choose their own leaders and their representatives in government which entails that voters have the capacity to influence the policies and programmes of a political party and the entire administrative system. In Nigeria, where every adult is given the right to vote, irrespective of sex, class, occupation; statistics in the last two decades have however shown that many people do not participate in elections even when they have been registered by the nations electoral body [2]. His or her vote and those of others, elects the representatives that form the government and govern the country. It has also been observed that despite the increased rate of voters registration owing to the rise in population and political awareness, the rate of voting in Nigeria continue to drop in every election conducted in the country just as the number of unclaimed voter cards keeps increasing.

[3] asserted that voter apathy seems to have emerged as a major problem in mature and emerging democracies, settled and volatile societies, large and thriving economics, as well as small and troubled ones, among youth, men/women and other marginalized groups as much as among mainstream dominant interest groups. Voter apathy could be measured by the percentage of registered voters and the turnout during the elections. In other words, the percentage of the registered voters who turn out to vote on election day, and the percentage of voting age population, registered or not registered, that cast their ballots on election day [4].

[5] articulated that every election cycle, the number of Nigerians who vote appears to have repeatedly shrunk in spite of the ever growing number of registered voters and this has been the pattern since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democratic rule. In his analysis, between the last election in 2015 and the 2019 election, over sixteen million (16.58) Nigerians according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), became eligible to vote for the first time; yet preliminary figures of the number of people who took part in the 2019 elections showed a shrinking voter base such that collations by INEC in states such as Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers and some others witnessed the lowest turnout, with less than thirty percent (30%) of their registered voters making the ballot. This in stark contrast to the 1999 general election where about seventy percent (70%) of all registered voters turned out to usher in Nigeria’s new democracy.

Attempts have been made to link the above to certain inhibiting factors on voter participation in electoral process in Nigeria. In this regard, [6] lamented that many people have lost trust and confidence in the government and their elected representatives since those elected to represent the people have always failed to deliver on the promises made to the electorate during campaigns. In her view, after they are elected and sworn into office, they turn demigods. This makes people lose confidence in them and as such manifests in voting

apathy recorded in almost every elections conducted in Nigeria [7], [8]. This is corroborated by [9] earlier position that politicians make series of promises during election campaigns; hence most of these promises are far from being fulfilled after they are voted into power. As a result of this, most voters lose interest in any political activities. Voter apathy experienced before, during and after the election could be expatiated on the basis of lack of trust/confidence in the government, fear of intimidation by hired thugs/security agents,  campaign crises, bad governance, election fraud/violence, poor political education, poverty and dearth of infrastructural development in the state, among others. These factors no doubt seem to have contributed to political manoeuvre during the election and as such made caricature of our nascent democracy.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) being the institution saddled with the electoral responsibilities of the country has been constantly knocked down on the grounds of low level of voter education to quell the menace of voter apathy in Nigeria’s electoral process. In this regard, [10] ascribed that poor political and voter’s education in congruence with low level of education, illiteracy in Nigeria has been a major bane on voter participation in democratic process in Nigeria. As such, the outcome of elections depicts high degree of voter apathy. He decried a situation whereby nearly fifty percent (50%) of registered voters neglected to pick up their PVC’s and therefore, could not be accredited to vote as a result of inadequate mobilization by INEC.

Statement of the Problem

It has become extremely worrisome that over the years, there seems to be significant decline in the rate of voter’s turnout during elections in Nigeria. Going through the analysis of official records obtained from INEC website, it revealed that 52.3% of the registered voters voted in the 1999 elections; the figure rose to 69.1% in 2003, then went down to 57.4% in 2011, 43.6% in 2015 and only a handful of 34.74% of the registered voters actually voted in the just concluded 2019 presidential elections (INEC, https://www.inecnigeria.org/all-about- 2019-generalelections). The News Agency of Nigeria, 2019 in the same vein reported that the 34.75% of voters in the 2019 general elections represents 26,614,190 electorates who cast their votes during elections and that 33.18% representing 27,324,583 of the 82,344,107 registered voters were valid votes that led to the final decision of INEC, hence the declaration of Muhammadu Buhari as President on the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 23^rd February 2019.

The above scenario presents a gloomy picture of voter participation and democracy in Nigeria especially when recourse is made to the fact that Nigeria’s population has been approximated to about two hundred million (200m) persons. Supposedly, the affairs of Nigeria state is supposed to be run by elected officials whom greater majority of the electorates elected, but the electorates feels disenchanted and allows of the affairs of the greater population to be decided by few inactive politicians.

Again, when very few people vote, the politicians elected do not represent the beliefs and values of the general population. Voter apathy is therefore been compared with a sort of political depression, where one feels helpless and unable to influence important events.

On the basis of this, this study investigates voter apathy and interrogates the role of INEC in improving voter participation in the national electoral process.

The specific objectives of the study are aimed at:

1. To determine the factors responsible for voting apathy among the electorate in the 2019 general elections.
2. To examine the effects of voting apathy among the electorates on the development of Nigeria’s democracy.
3. To establish the role of INEC in reducing voting apathy among the electorates for democratic development in Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study

Political parties are traditionally the most significant intermediary organization in democratic societies. Students of political parties have commonly associated them with democracy itself. Political parties, as “makers” of democracy, have been so romanticized that scholars claim that neither democracy nor democratic societies are thinkable without them. In other words, the existence of vibrant political parties is a sine qua non for democratic consolidation in any polity. It is patently ironic that political parties in Nigeria largely pursue (and profess) democracy outside the gates and resist it within the gates (Orji, 2013; Ibeanu, 2013).

Democratic governance with its ideal of elective representation, freedom of choice of leaders, rule of law, freedom of expression, accountability among others, has become the acceptable system of government all over the world. It is a form of government in which the supreme power of a political community rests on popular sovereignty. According to Oyovbaire (1987) democracy as a system of government seeks to realize a generally recognized common good through a collective initiation and discussion of policy questions concerning public affairs and which delegates authority to agents to implement the broad decisions made by the people through majority vote.

Accordingly, Osabiya (2015) further asserted that in modern societies, political parties are very essential to political process. They have become veritable instrument or adjunct of democracy in any democratic system. Political parties are not only instrument for capturing political power, but they are also vehicles for the aggregation of interests and ultimate satisfaction of such interests through the control of government. Obviously political parties are crucial to the sustenance of democratic governance.

Towards the end of the last century, Africa like the rest of the world witnessed the “third wave of democratization” when authoritarian regime and one party governments were replaced or supplanted by elected civilian governments or administrations. Nigeria described by Ette (2013) as one of the strongholds of dictatorship in the continent was caught in the snowballing effect of the wave after twenty-nine years of military dictatorship. After several years of failure attempt by the past military regimes of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Sani Abacha, democracy formally gained root in the country on 29 May, 1999.

Nigerians were full of hopes and expectations that hard earned democracy will usher in improvements in standards of living, good governance, improvement in security and what Mohammed (2013:573 described as freeing of natural resources from the iron fist and jaw of greedy officials to that of enterprising and efficient social services delivery in health, education, sports and prevention of modern day slavery such as human trafficking as well as rehabilitation of infrastructural facilities, poverty alleviation and reduction in unemployment, inequality and improvement in general socio-economic development.

Disturbingly, eighteen years after the inception of the present democratic dispensation, the political landscape is yet to show clear evidence of good governance. Elections and electoral processes are subverted; there have been wide scale of political violence and killing in many parts of the country; upsurge in ethnic militia groups who make life unbearable for the citizenry; general insecurity and high profile terrorism in the northern part of the country as well as kidnapping and bunkering of the petroleum pipelines in the southern part of the country which obviously have become a major threat to her democratic process and consolidation (Adeosun, 2014:1).

The rudiments of a true democracy are good governance, fair and legitimate elections, justice, equity, accountability, transparency, responsible leadership, political education of the masses, respect for the rule of law and importantly corporation among the different branches of government. Regrettably, the practice of the so-called democracy in the 21st Century Nigeria is intrinsically characterized by electoral frauds orchestrated by political parties (Obidimma andObidimma, 2015:43).

Moreover, mainstream rhetoric in Nigeria media and popular discourses of the polity is often centred on the claim that Nigeria is “consolidating its democracy”. The evidence on the ground, however, contradicts this claim (Momoh, 2013:1). It is perhaps most appropriate to liken the relationship between political parties and the sustenance of democratic rule in a particular society to that which exists between the umbilical cord and the foetus (Yagboyaju, 2012:54).

Political parties are at the heart of examining the health of any form of democracy. Orji (2013:1) argues that ‘to talk, today, about consolidating democracy, is to talk about a system of competitive political parties’. Therefore this research study seeks to examine the role of political parties in consolidation of democracy in Nigeria with particular references to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC).

1.2     Statement of the Problem

Consolidating Nigerian democracy through the functioning of political parties has remained an albatross. The history of Nigeria’s democratic experiments demonstrates that elections and political parties have generated so much animosity which has, in some cases, threatened the corporate existence of the country, such as happened after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and in other cases instigated military incursion in to political governance, most notably in 1966 and 1983. At the heart of electoral crisis in Nigeria is the lack of credibility for the official results of elections leading to the rejection of such results by the opposition political parties.

Since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic, a pattern is already emerging which points to the fact that political elites have not learnt much from the mistakes of the past. The various crises plaguing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the annals of defections in the National Assembly, cross carpeting of governors, lack of internal democracy among others are vivid instances of this tendency. Lack of party discipline continues to feature prominently in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) political parties. This action ends up heating up the polity; a situation that portends dangers to democratic consolidation in Nigeria. This danger has resulted to the high level of political abduction, harassment, arson, and assassinations, withdrawal of credible and qualified professionals in the race. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine the role of political parties in consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The major objective of the study is to examine the relationship between political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. Other specific objectives are:

1)  To examine the relationship between political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

2)  To examine the effect of intra-party crisis on the democratic process.

3)  To investigate the effect of party-members defections on democratic deepening in Nigeria.

4)  To interrogateif lack of internal democracy by the PDP and APC is affecting the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.

5)  To extrapolatethe challenges of consolidating democracy in Nigeria.

1.5    Research Questions

The questions that this study seeks to address are:

1)  What is the relationship between political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria?

2)  In what ways do intra-party crisis have any effect on the democratic process in Nigeria?

3)  To what extent will party-members defection affect democratic deepening in Nigeria?

4)  To what extent doeslack of internal democracy by the PDP and APC affecting the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria?

5)  What are the challenges of consolidating democracy in Nigeria?

1.6   Significance of the Study

Previous researchers have been very divergent in their views about the possible correlates of political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria, this study will therefore be of great significance as it will add to the already existing body of knowledge in this regard. It is anticipated that the analytical, conceptual and theoretical analysis will not just contribute to understanding of the dynamics of political parties and democracy in Nigeria, but will articulate sound policy recommendations to foster democratic consolidation in Nigeria. In a whole, the outcomes of the study will serve as a useful tool for students of the Lagos State University, who would want to carry out further research in this domain. It would also be useful to scholars in political science. The study would in fact be significant to policy makers and implementers at large, as they will find the result and recommendations of the study very useful.

1.7     Scope of the Study

The scope of the study defines the research boundary. Therefore this study encompasses political parties and democratic consolidation in Nigeria vis-à-vis the inter-party crisis, party-members’ defection, lack of internal democracy and the challenges of democratic consolidation in Nigeria. The study will be limited in scope to thePeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Abstract

In contemporary democracy politics of godfatherism has become a universal issue in the political development of many countries Nigeria inclusive. The paper studied the implication of politics of godfatherism on the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria. Certainly, the politics of godfatherism have entered every hook and crannies of the nation and have affected the political structure of the country. This paper is qualitative in nature; data were obtained from secondary sources where numerous articles, newspapers, magazines, books reports, and archives were systematically reviewed. In elucidating the topic under examination, the researcher used Elite theory. This theory was advocated by Vilfredo Pareto in 1935, the postulation of the theory is that elites are replaced by another group of elites, meaning that the majority are unavoidably governed by the minority. The study found that the politics of godfatherism has a negative impact on the socio-economic and political development of the nation by confining power in the hands of the few elites at the expense of the masses (electorates). This has affected the socio-economic and political development of the nation, and by extension led to inter-party and intra-party defections, decamping�s and conflicts among the party members. Therefore, the study recommends the implementation of the direct primary election in the selecting candidate into elective positions. In addition to that, INEC should make a law that will discourage money politics and should as well punish the culprit involved in such an illegal political act.

Keywords: Development;God-Fatherism; Implication; Impacts; Nigeria; Political; Politics; Socio-Economic

1. Introduction

In Africa and other developing countries like Nigeria, godfatherism has become the central point of political vandalism this is as a result of the overconcentration of authority and capital of politicians explains the ascent for the control of the structures and organizations by the political class in the nation, this struggle, and the resulting values have obstructed significantly on society in a various ways (Ohiole & Ojo, 2016:1).

Politics of godfatherism and regionalism has featured prominently in the political history of independent Nigeria. The problems arising from godfatherism are myriad and it is one of the greatest glitches facing the Nigerian political system. The problem is such that the god-son oftentimes is a stooge of the godfather �and he that pays the piper dictates the tune (Edigin, 2010:174)�. The failure of the god-son to meet the demands of the god-father is often punished with impeachments or denial of re-election. He also observed that with the return to democratic rule in 1999, the country witnessed a heightened tempo in the politics of godfatherism, which has affected the socio-economic and political development of the country.

A study by Ohiole & Ojo (2016:11), disclosed that democracy in Nigeria has not been fully established and the phenomenon of godfatherism has endangered democratic process and the socio-economic lives of the citizenry. Political godfathers is a condition in Nigerian political process influencing against the democratic establishment in order to satisfy their selfish interest they are even ready to manipulate the democratic body and its mode of operations, by overpowering public office holders like the governor and council chairman to dance to their tone. The activities of these political fighters have deprived the people of voting for their ideal applicants as their leader. This has directly affected the political arrangement and the national economy of the nation.

However, Nigeria with a projected population of 196,651,048 and� one of the largest nation in Africa blessed with human and material resources, is by far the most populated nation in Africa (Ali, Zakuan, and Ahmad, 2018 & UNDESA, 2018). It has three tiers of government structure these include federal, state, and local government. With six geopolitical zones across the nation. Nigeria comprises 36 states and Abuja. It also has 774 local government, and federal capital territory (Ahmed & Shehu, 2014). With all these features yet Nigeria is characterizing with politics of godfatherism since independence this is as a result of the majority and minority domination and poverty that was artificially created by the politicians among the citizens to subjugate them to lower class. Political godfatherism in its simplest form can be generally seen as a practice which involves the sustenance of a kind of social and political relations in which the inferior looks onto the superior for the dissemination and self-actualization of firm roles, desires and connections which unite both together or in which both have equal pole but with the greater influence of what the inferior gets in the process (Majekodunmi, 2013:71).

Nigeria has all the below types of godfathers:

most especially those who serve others, those who expect the society to serve them, and even those who channel their resources into criminal activities. Our interest in this paper is on the politics of godfatherism in the democratic government (Albert, 2005:81).

Godfathers in some nations are inspired by their resolution to regulate public policies in favour of their concerns. For instance, in Nigeria, the primary motive of political godfathers is to control the treasury of the state. The godfathers in Nigerian politics are primarily concerned with appropriation of government contracts, political/public appointments and plundering the coffers of the state. They are in advantaged positions to decide the political confidence of candidates to political offices and as such those that are not only seen but confirmed to be �loyal� cannot be �given� ticket to be the flag bearer of the parties. This is to ensure that the godsons will be answerable to them when they were elected into power. Because of these conditions, some contenders defect to other parties where they do not have such influential figures that would aggravate them from their political ambitions (Okolie, 2006:171).

From the above expression, it is understood that democracy is a competition among the elite for control and entree to state power. However, it is contended here that in Nigeria the disaster of democracy can be traced to the failure of the political elite, as a class. Since 1954, there has been a fusion of the elite such that political elite also institutes both the economic and social elite. To be sure, the emergent political elite since 1954 have dominated the political territory to the exclusion of new candidates. The old elite has to controlled the political passage such that where they are not opposing for political positions, they desire to constitute themselves as the power behind the curtain, thereby, leading to the phenomenon of ‘godfatherism'(Uadiale, 2012:94).

Looking at the above set-up it is understood that politics of Godfatherism has eaten deep into Nigerian politics this corresponds with the opinion of Plato, Aristotle, Tacitus, and other classical philosophers who largely centered on the concentration of political power in the hands of a few in the early Greek and Roman society. Thinkers such as Pareto, Mosca, Michels, and Marx too devoted their political analysis on how power is used and misused by the ruling class in diverse settings. The domination of power by the hegemonic class in many parts of the contemporary society can thus, be said to be nothing new but has a vigorous pedigree (Albert, 2005:79).

1.1 Brief History of the Nigerian State and Democracy

The Nigerian state was established because of the defeat and occupation of Lagos by the British between 1861 and 1914. In the year 1861 and 1914, all areas around the Niger River were progressively apprehended, some by power and others quietly give to British domination and rule. These areas which shaped the Nigerian state were before the conquest and occupation of Lagos, and the January 1914 unification were different nationalities, ethno-religious and geopolitical groups which were either separate or independent of one another or to a less extent inter-related to one another. With the 1914 unification, these areas from the Northern and Southern regions of the Niger River were amalgamated together and made as one political entity called (Nigeria). From 1914 to 1960 Nigeria remained under the British colonial rule which in addition brought party politics and the western styled parliamentary democracy into Nigeria over the years of colonial rule (Ali & Isah, 2018:116).

In a related development a study by Isah and Ahmed (2018), disclosed that political activities in unified Nigeria began around 1922/23 when elections and a political party Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) was recognized and conducted. This political movement and parties in Nigeria continued to develop up to 1960 when Nigeria attains its independence. The post-independence era also witnessed an increased number of political events as well as growing number of political parties and politically related groups and associations which had by January 1966 before the coup reached 81 (Mohammed, Aisha & Saidu, 2018).

1.2 The Advent of Politics of Godfatherism in Nigeria

Politics of Godfatherism became widespread in Nigerian political movements in the 1960s, and early post-independence where leaders became political godfathers (Mamah, 2004). The action of political godfathers was obvious with the coming of civilian rule in 1979. However, the military governments that branded the 1980�s jammed its achievement. Similarly, a study by Alabi & Tunde (2013:6), pointed out that the political godfather phenomenon is not new in Nigeria politics. This circumstance started during the First Republic when the leading supporter of independence of Nigeria (Zik, Awo, Tafawa-Balewa, etc.) intolerant and managed political activities in Nigeria. However, there are lots of changes between the philosophical godfatherism of the First Republic and the unpolished form Citing (Gambo, 2007). Bernard drew the basis of godfatherism in electoral politics to the city of Chicago in the United States of America in the pre-world war II era, which he expressed that�when the heads of criminal gangs sponsored politicians in elections, manipulated the results to get them elected and, in turn, received protection and contracts from their political godsons (Bernard, 2009)�.

Moreover, the 1999 civil rule attended another form of political godfatherism, which reached its ultimate during the unpleasant obliteration of lives and belongings that viewed the violent hostility between the political godfather (Chris Uba) and the then governor of Anambra state (Chris Ngige). This act leads to a new dimension to the exercise of political godfatherism in the Nigerian political movements where the godson dance the tone of the godfather in order to accomplish his or her political dream. This is contrary to the roles played by godfathers in Nigeria�s democratic movements between 1958 and 1983 (Mamah, 2004).

2. Problem Statement

Politics of godfatherism has become part and parcel of the political condition of actualizing the political dreams of many contestants in Nigeria. Politics of godfatherism has eaten deep into the political movements of many nations Nigeria inclusive. Politics of godfatherism has affected the political and economic development of Nigeria. Several issues were observed as a cause of politics of Godfatherism. The central argument is that in the Nigerian politics �Godfatherism� has become the major problem to many candidates to win or fail in an election. Godfatherism is extensively practicing in all parts of the country, it is observed that to contest for any political post it has become necessary to have strong political godfather before considering and run for any elective offices or even political appointment. This is because many contenders cannot win an election without the support and influence of the godfather. So also, many individuals cannot get appointed without the support and influence of the godfathers that decide the faith of the state. But with the support and influence of godfathers, many aspirants contest and win the election. because of the power of the godfathers and incumbency.

The power, influence, and incumbency have created a serious problem between the contestants and the electorates, and by extension has affected the socio-economic development of the nation. This is because most of the candidates dance to the tone of their godfathers not the general populous. And it is the godfathers that are dictating the candidates what to do and not to do. This problem of the dictatorship of the political fathers has created a wide gap� between the contestants and the electorates. It is understood that all the positions won or appointed because of the influence of godfathers cannot yield positive development. Because the political godfathers asked contestants or appointee to sign a treaty to ensure that they agree with all the promises that they had entered with the godfathers. However, (Gideons, 2010; Ohiole & Ojo, 2016:2) noted that the contestant makes sure that all the money spends on he/she during the election were paid fully with interests. This led to a political crisis between the aspirants and the godfathers, by extension between the citizens in the states. This political crisis has created a wide vacuum between the godsons and the godfather. Based on this, the paper merit to examine the impacts of politics of godfatherism on the socio-economic and political development of Nigeria.

3. Objectives of the Research

�  To examine the implication of political godfathers on the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

�  To investigate the relationship between godfathers and godsons in political movements in Nigeria.

�  To proffer solutions to identified problems

4. Research Methodology

This paper is qualitative; here the researcher used a secondary source in obtaining appropriate and interrelated literature. Here several documents such as books, articles, magazines, and newspapers were referred. All the relevant literature accessed were thoroughly studied and reviewed for the purpose of this study (Creswell, 2009; Zaleha, 2018).

4.1 Research Design

Considering the nature of this study the researcher uses a case study approach in approaching the topic under examination. This is because the approach helps the researcher in understanding the phenomenon deeply. In addition to that, it also provides an in-depth understanding of a case or cases under inquiry. Case study approach helps in developing an in-depth explanation and examination of a case (s) (Creswell, 2009; Zaleha, 2018).��

5. Theoretical Framework

In explaining this paper there are several theories that can support the study, but for the purpose of this research, the researcher adopted Elite theory to explained and supports the topic under investigation.�

5.1 Elite Theory

The study used Elite theory in explaining the topic under examination. This theory was offered by Vilfredo Pareto in 1935 the supposition of the theory is that power is rotated among the elites, this means the elites are substituted by another group of elites, meaning that the masses are unavoidably ruled by the few elites at the expense of the masses (the electorates). It is understood that this idea was begun by Pareto and Mosca in 1935 the law of elite rotation, in line with the above assumption and to support the argument elite theory sees �elites� as players governing the state and national resources, and occupying key positions related to power networks (Yamokoski and Dubrow, 2008). Thus, the perception of elites is more carefully connected to the Weberian knowledge of power, understood as the competence of executing one�s will, even against the will of the general populous (Weber, 1922:696). However, it is understood that power can be accomplished through material and/or figurative resources. Subsequently, elites can simply be defined as those in control of capitals (Reis, 2005). This theory resided on how power is rotating among the elites in society. More so, the theory believes that power can only be shared among the elites at the expense of the masses.

6. Literature and Conceptualization of Godfatherism

Godfatherism is an impediment to Nigerian democracy. It is adversative to the freedom and welfare of the peoples. Therefore, the problem of godfatherism should then not be preserved as a party affair but should be treated with legal action by the government and the party stakeholders. To gain control over the state structure, politics of Godfatherism need to be tackle and control, this is because, with the politics of Godfatherism, godfathers often adopt different systems to outmaneuver their oppositions. Therefore, it is observed that in Nigeria, several approaches were used to win elections such as rigging, thuggery, violence, and manipulations of results in the interest of the godfathers (Wenibowei, 2011:72).

The term Godfatherism have been defined by several scholars based on their perception and understanding. In a study by Adeoye (2009:70-1), the term used to define the connection between a godfather and godson. A godfather is a kingmaker, boss, mentor, and principal, while godson is the beneficiary and recipient of the legacy of a godfather. A godfather is someone who has built unbelievable respect and follower (voters) in the community and possessed a well-organized political stand, and general acceptance from an electorate that could secure victory for candidates of his choice (Adeoye, 2009:72).

In a related view Jibrin Ibrahim defined the category of godfatherism, during an interview granted to the BBC on 10 November 2003 as �men who have the power personally to determine who gets nominated and who wins the election in a state�. For instance, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu, who had a running battle with his godfather, Senator Jim Nwobo, for over two years, defined godfather from his own personal experience as follows: The ‘political godfathers’ in Nigeria build a collection of supporters around them and use their power, which is often tied to financial deliberations, to operate the rest of the society toward his or her interest. Political godfathers use their power and influence to block the involvement of the masses from Nigerian politics. The elite theory explained the above situation that power is rotating between the elites and subjugating the masses to subordinate positions. This signifies that the elites and the politicians are political porters: They decide who is to take part in the national politics and under what situations (Albert, 2005:80).

Politics of Godfatherism is one of the philosophies that open tinny doors when it comes to defining who gets what in the political division. Though, in the framework of this study, the literary meaning and characteristics of godfather need to be emphasized. Literarily, Godfathers in the Nigeria context refers to the men who have the power generally to regulate both who gets selected to the election race to wins the election (Alabi & Tunde, 2013:5).

In another development, a study by Edigin (2010:175), describes or sees godfather as a human being who plays god to his people. He provides their basic needs for them, protects them and assists them to secure and achieve their objectives. He further states that �his support could be seen as an investment, which he believes must yield some profits in the near future�.

Therefore, the demand for sustainable democracy in Nigeria is to expand both the political and socio-economic situation of the country through massive people participation in the policy and decision-making process, but contrary to Nigerian political system where those that reached political power in both arms of government Legislative and Executive were elected to power through the influence and support of some political �godfathers� in many states. Nevertheless, the yearning of political godfathers is to hold political and socio-economic powers, both at the center and the local units as strategies to administratively influence the activities of political office holders. Such as the Governors and Legislators in terms of employing people into numerous posts, such as Ministers/Commissioners, Chairmen of the boards, Secretaries to the various Institutions, DPM and Treasurers of Local Governments as well as allocation of some developmental projects into various local government of interest across the state (Alabi & Tunde, 2013:2-3). This is in line with the summation of Elite theory which buttressed that political power is shared among the political elites at the expense of the masses (electorates).�

To explain the above assertions Albert (2005:81), noted that an important issue raised by Pareto and Marx in their works is that political elites insulate and isolate themselves from their society and try as much as possible to reproduce themselves from within. They do all possible within their reach to ensure that non-elites do not join their membership. This is in line with the postulation of the Elite theory, which believes that power is rotating among the elites by sidelining the masses to subordinate or to fallowers positions. To ensure this, the political elites maintain a safe, functional distance from the rest of society. They reproduce themselves on an individual and selective basis in a process which Pareto specifically referred to as the ‘circulation of elites’.

In a related development, a study by Alabi & Tunde (2013), disclosed that most Nigerian policies are usually determined by political godfathers to allow them to fix in their contenders to the corridor of power. In the recent time, Politics of Godfatherism has extended to upper, lower and state house of assembly, where all the contenders most have an influential godfather that would back him/her before winning an election. This signifies that political godfathers are the key to political success in Nigeria polity.

7. Politics of Godfatherism in Nigeria

Politics of godfatherism courses a lot of problems in the political movements of many states. These problems include intraparty and interparty conflict, party defection or party decamping. However, these conflicts arising from godfatherism has become one of the major problems affecting the political arrangement of many nations Nigeria inclusive.

For instance, politics of godfatherism become widespread in the Nigerian political system from 1999 to date, when those in power became the political godfathers in states politics. The deed of godfathers was noticeable in the state in 2007 when late governor Mamman B. Ali of the blessing memory came out to vie for the post of the governorship in the state, only a few politicians were in support of his intention to contest for the post. Most of the political leaders and the party stakeholders were not in his support. This is because he has no political godfather that will support him to vie for the post, but he keeps on struggling in actualizing his political dream to become the governor of the state in 2007. However, Late Senator M. B. Ali scored a major victory at the Supreme Court. The victory was in respect of a case brought by late Senator U. Al-Bashir disputing the replacement of his name with that of late Ali as an aspirant of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) for the 2007 governorship election (Com, 2018).

In a similar opinion a study by Albert (2005:81), pointed out that: �men who have the power personally to determine who gets nominated who in the state�. Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu, who had a running battle with his godfather, Senator Jim Nwobo, for over two years, defined godfather from his own personal experience as follows:

an impervious guardian figure who provided the lifeline and direction to the godson, perceived to live a life of total submission, subservience, and protection of the oracular personality located in the large, material frame of opulence, affluence and decisiveness, that is, if not ruthless … strictly, the godfather is simply a self-seeking individual out there to use the government for his own purposes.

In line with the above assertion a study by Ohiole & Ojo (2016:6), unveiled that the battle line in Oyo State was drawn between Lamidi ADEDIBU � the kingpin of Ibadan Politics (godfather) and the (godson) governor of the State, Rashidi LADOJA. Adedibu demanded to have donated financially in �installing� LADOJA as the state governor, with an arrangement that the governor will be faithful and obedient, taking orders from him and to subject public resources, to his private impulses and whims.

Nevertheless, LADOJA defaulted and declined to play according to the rules of the game. This led to confusion in Ibadan the state capital. After the 2003 general elections till January 2006. Because of this confusion, many lives and properties were lost. The State House of Assembly was also divided into two and this led to the suspension of fourteen (14) members out of thirty-two (32) � members State House of Assembly. Then, LADOJA was arraigned in less than 30 minutes in January 2006, this gave the opportunity for the deputy governor, Alao AKALA, another godfather who is willing to serve the godfather well. This position was sustained up to December 7^th, 2006. It was after eleven-month Supreme Court ruled out the case in favour of the governor, that his removal was illegitimate, and he was returned after eleven (11) months out of his office. His coming back to the office was confronted with the grave fight from his former godfather�s (ADEDIBU) camp, which led to break in law and order of the State capital for few days and living many blameless inhabitants with various kind of injuries (Azeez, 2014; Ohiole & Ojo, 2016)

In a similar view Sale (2018), disclosed that same thing applies to Yobe North senatorial district where the ruling party has fielded the longest-serving senator in the state, Senator Ahmed Lawan, the current Senate leader. Political analysts in and around the state posited that Adamu Maina Waziri has contributed immensely in making PDP in Yobe State weak. They said since the inception of democratic rule in 1999, Waziri has been the sole gubernatorial flag bearer of the party and has never for once won election or allow somebody to make any move to contest. He is being accused of pocketing the party and tilting it to where it will serve his personal interest. Some party faithful in the state went to the extent of accusing him of working for the ruling APC. Presently, there are serious political crises between the present Senator and Waziri. Based on the political analysis if this internal party wrangling between A. Waziri and M. Hassan, if not amicably addressed before the coming general elections, it will no doubt lead to PDP losing the seat to APC, and if this happens, APC will be happy, because Zone� B is the only Zone� among the three senatorial Zones that is being represented by PDP (Sale, 2018). To minimized this problem of godfatherism the study suggested for the direct primary election in the country.

8. Direct Primary Election

In order to minimize the problems of godfatherism and uphold free fair and credible election in Nigeria the paper suggested for the proper adoption of direct primary election. This is in line with the declaration of APC National Chairman in 2018, and in preparation of 2019 general election. According to (Oladesu, 2018; Ojeifo, 2018) the APC national chairmen declare the implementation of direct primary elections in the APC across the 36 of the federation this is to overcome the problem of godson and godfather domination in the APC political movements. He believes this method of the direct primary election would help in electing the right aspirant for 2019 general elections. This idea arose in a leadership meeting with the party caucus in Abuja. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led National Executive Committee, he declared that all the contested would be elected through the direct primary election this is to ensure equality and justice to all contestants and to sustain free, fair and credible election. This decision was not in any way vague.

In line with the opinion of APC chairman, the president supported the implementation of the direct primary election for all APC candidates across the federation (Oladesu, 2018). The chairman clarified the acceptance of the direct primary election which would give all registered members of the party the chance to take part in the process of defining those to represent the right and interest of the party members at all level of governance. This basically describes the distinctive democratic style (Ojeifo, 2018).

The national chairman highlighted that:

We note that direct primary election is free from the vices associated with the indirect primary. Direct primary cannot be wrought. It is not disposed to corruption, we want to grow democracy. We want the party members to have ownership of the party. We want to give our members a sense of belonging (Oladesu, 2018:1-2).

The All Progressives Congress (APC) was requested to adopt the direct primary for the selection of its candidates for 2019 general elections to enhance inner democracy, the Chairman emphasized. He explained that he suggested for the implementation of the direct primary election in order to �liberalize� its shadow polls by making all registered APC members automatic delegates. He added that this option will lessen the corruption and manipulation related to the delegates mode of selecting the contestants, which always causes huge post-primary violence and crises in the nation (Oladesu, 2018). To him, the implementation of a direct primary election helps in no small measure in minimizing the power of incumbency in the political movements of Nigeria. This would encourage the general populaces who are willing and interesting to participate and contest for any political position of their choice. This assertion is measured by Elites theory that power is rotating among the Elites at the expense of the electorates.

To curtail the problem of godfatherism all the political parties should adopt and implement these policies of the direct primary election, this would help in sanitizing the election process at all level of government. It would as well lead to free fair and credible election by electing credible candidates in electives positions. Although, some states across the nation didn�t adopt the direct primary election. This is because of power incumbency and interest to manipulate the political power to a certain geopolitical Zone� that has been dominating the state politics for many years (Sale, 2018). Politics of Godfatherism has become part and parcel of Nigerian politics. Looking at the structure of the National and State House of Assembly it is noted that most of the members have dominated the position since 1999, some have inherited the post and sustain it for many years because of the influence and the power of Godfatherism that has denied the masses from contesting for the posts. This is the true picture of the Elite theory that believes in power circulation among the elite in society (Yamokoski and Dubrow, 2008).

9. The Causes of Politics of GodFatherism in Nigeria

The study found that there are numerous factors that lead to the politics of godfatherism in Nigeria. Among which are: the power of incumbency, influence, money, political thugs, money politics, lack of political awareness, selfishness, greediness, lack of exposure, over-ambition, nepotism, and politics of regionalism among others. There is an emerging tendency in Nigeria which labels that an anticipating contender must have and depend on the godfather with the necessary capital, influence, and power to get he/she voted and acquire power. The consequence is that participants are more depending on their acceptance from the electorates, but on their selected godfathers to support them secure elected positions (Aderonke, Awosika & Olanrewaju, 2013:70).

In the same way, it is understood that corruptive tendencies intensify the economic base of the godfathers by making a wide diversity of difficulties in the politics and rule because the godfathers use their influence, capital to place their godsons and wards in several positions of power. So also those in power use their position to decide the next to represent the interest of the citizens at all cost (Oviasuyi, 2009:73)

A study by (Ohiole & Ojo, 2016:4) noted that election sponsors are rich, powerful and influential individuals which come out freely to pay kindly towards the voting success of a party or sponsor candidates during an election. More so, Ohiole & Ojo (2016), added that the political godfather might be less concerned about the active politics or organization of r�gime but thinks of approachable policies from the administration. �Nigeria�s godfathers in the 21st century sponsors election, but not all election sponsors are godfathers�. Though, Godfathers reign across all spheres of the society: academics, legal, and religious environment.

To support the above statement, Popoola, (2014:1-2), unveiled that political godfather and godson fight has been upsetting the nation socio-economic development. This fight rooted in the crash of interest, needs, values, and capitals, involved political office holders in the highest ladder of government.Which invariably affects the socio-economic and political development of the nation.