State Capture and Elective Dictatorship in Nigeria's Democratic Space: A Critical Analysis
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Date
2021-03
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
African Renaissance
Abstract
Nigeria has run democratic governance consecutively for twenty-one years.Within
this timeframe, democracy has demonstrated signs of maturation and
consolidation. Nigeria has witnessed administration-to-administration and party-
to-party transitions. However, the political system tends to lack certain
fundamental political culture,especially the entrenchment of the supremacy of
institutions rather than personalities. The key question that this paper interrogates
is the extent to which the democratic,ethos of elective principles and institutional
independence have been entrenched. Adjunct to this question is whether state
capture by political elites through elective dictatorship has compromised Nigeria's
democratic space in terms of circumventing people's electoral powers. The paper
finds that democratic processes have been short-changed through the instrumentality of elective dictatorship. It also finds that
the primacy of the electorate as the motorising force of democratization has
been undermined. It recommends political inclusiveness through the
modification of the electoral system to confer primacy on elective principles.
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Citation
Democratic governance, elective dictatorship, Nigeria, politicaI elites,state capture