REVIEWING THE CONCEPTS OF GODFATHERISM, CONSTITUTIONAL PRAXIS AND DEMOCRATIC ASCENDANCY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

It is not in doubt that democracy is accepted as the best form of government, not because it has no demerits in the way it may be practiced at one time or the other but due to its ability to organically safeguard and respects human rights. The whole essence of the constitutional and legal scheme regulating choice of those that govern is founded on ensuring that the choice represents the will of the people. Ironically, it is a recurring decimal in Nigerian politics that certain strong men control politics and to a very large extent determine who gets what in political office in Nigeria. Given that the politics of imposition practiced by these political godfathers is antithetical to democracy, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and the electoral laws have provisions meant to stifle the practice, it is unfortunate that the practice goes on unhindered. This paper doctrinally examines the practice of godfatherism in Nigeria and gives legal and social reasons why it has continued to thrive as a praxis in Nigeria’s democratic experience. It concludes that weak institutions, legal loopholes and lack of democratic culture are the reasons for the festering of the undemocratic practice. This paper suggested ways out of the problem and warned about a possible social implosion, if the practice is allowed to reach an unbearable crescendo.