Nigeria Linkage Institutions

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Linkage Institutions

• Nigeria’s efforts to democratize are incomplete, so linkage institutions are newly developed and highly fluid

• Nigerian citizens have organized in many ways with varying impact on Nigerian Politics

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Political Parties

• Political Parties in Nigeria have always been regionally and ethnically based

• Nigeria’s extreme factionalism led to so many parties that it was impossible to create a coherent party system

• This multi party system has reinforced and deepened ethnic and religious cleavages

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Political Parties Cont.

People’s Democratic Party- One of the most established parties- In 2007 they were accused of widespread fraud in winning

70% for Umaru Yar’Adua- They gained the majority of the national assembly, but they

are considered fraudulent so there true support is hard to measure

- In 2011 presidential candidate Goodluck Johnathan won the election

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Political Parties Cont.

Congress For Progressive Change (CPC)- Founded in 2009- Originated in the Buhari Organization (TBO) formed in

2006 by Muhammadu Buhari- After the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) nominated

Buhari as presidential candidate, TBO worked with ANPP, but when Buhari challenged the elections, groups split and TBO became the CPC

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Political Parties Cont.

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)- Formerly Action Congress- Ran Nuh Ribadu in 2011 (5.5% of vote)- Ran Atiku Abukbakar in 2007 (7%of vote)Independent National Election Commission- Followed death of President Abacha in 1998- In order to run a party had to get 5% of the vote in two-thirds

of the states- Effectively cut the number of parties.- Widely accused of corruption in 2007

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Election Problems/Reforms

• Since 1999 parties have tended to lose regional base and draw support throughout country

• Fraudulent elections and violence have caused parties to lose legitimacy

• Reforms such as a new vote register, ballot papers, secret ballots have been instituted to better the election process

• In 2011, Nigeria had a fair and open election, the first in its history

• http://www.nigerianeye.com/2013/01/nigeria-must-use-electronic-voting-in.html

Presidential Elections• Citizens vote for candidates on three levels: local, state, and national• The President reports to the House of Representatives • Senators are elected on a national level• The First Presidential election was in 1999 after the one in 1993 was

annulled• If there is not a majority in an election, a second ballot election may take

place• Unique quality of Nigeria- The President must receive at least 25% of the

vote cast in 2/3 of the states. *This is so purely regional votes cannot help win an election• Nigeria has had difficulty uniting their country

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Legislative Elections

• Senate-the Upper House109 senators-3 from each of the 36 states-elected by direct popular vote

• House of Representatives-the Lower House360 members- elected from Single Member Districts by plurality voteLegislative Policymaking power is very weakThe PDP (People’s Democratic Party) currently holds a majority in both houses, although several other parties are represented

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Election Fraud• Only four regularly scheduled popular elections in a row so far• INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), with outside pressure,

has made an attempt to cleanse the electoral process when it declared almost six million names fraudulent in the 2003 election

• Ballot boxes are often vandalized, stolen, and stuffed with fraud votes

• Elections of 2007 got even worse (INEC disqualified the VP but the Supreme Court declared they did not have the power to do so- shows how poorly organized these powers are)

• No voter privacy• Long delays• Frustrated voters erupted in protest in 2007

election, killed 200 people

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Elections of 2011

• Big improvement from 2007 elections• Goodluck Jonathan (Current President, from the south) won 59% of the

vote, and Buhari (north) won 32%• PDP candidates won majorities in both houses but other parties are still

represented• Flaws such as underage voting and chaos were noted, but reforms

controlled the amount of fraud• Exposed the ethnic and religious divide between the north and the south• Mr. Jonathan did not win any states from the north• Hundreds of people still killed during these elections, with the violence

directly reflecting the cleavages and showing the high poverty rates in the north

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Civil Society

• Civil society in Nigeria is Hindered by prebendalism (patronage employment) and corruption.

• Most civil society groups like the Christian Association of Nigeria are mainly based on religion, and ironically they do not get along.

• There are many citizens that strive and work toward creating civil society but their efforts are stalled by military control they have to work around.

• Example of civil society attempts: http://nsuuk.org/2012/the-1st-nigerian-election-sensitization-scheme-ness-conference-2013/

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Labor Unions

• Before the 1980s labor unions were politically powerful

• The Babangida Regime (1985-1993) sought out to hinder their power

• By 2007 unions showed that they had regained their lost power with the strike organized by the Nigeria Labor Congress

• They organized to lower rates on oil and taxes• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2qoOJRd

m-A

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Business Interest and Human Rights

• The only businesses that have organized together are manufacturers, butchers, and car rental firms

• These businesses set up associations for economic reform• Students, teachers, civil liberties organizations, and

professional groups came together in the 80s and

90s to protest

the Babangida and Abacha regimes to attempt to

influence democracy.

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Mass Media

• Surprisingly, Nigeria has a vast and long standing independent press.

• Radio is the main source of information in Nigeria

• There are many newspapers in the North (Christian) and South (Muslim) that deliver news seperately.

• http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/nigeria.htm