POLITICAL PARTIES AND 2023 PRIMARY ELECTION IN NIGERIA: THE GAME OF THE HIGHEST BIDDER.

Abstract

Political parties, being a legal entity in Nigeria saddled with the task of scrutinizing, electing, and nominating a candidate for the general election via primary election procedures, have swiftly shifted from their core sensitive duties to a bazaar-like type of primary election where the party officials and delegates place financial gifts from the candidate or their godfather above other considerations for casting their vote, irrespective of the credibility of other candidates. This has jeopardized the chances of parties nominating the most credible candidate as their flag bearer. Contingency theory by Fiedler (1967) is the theoretical framework of this study. Secondary sources of data were used for this study: journals, books, and materials from the internet. The study recommended that a joint security team be set up to track and stop the sophisticated ways politicians are sharing money both in foreign and local currencies during primary elections. The study concluded that the elections of delegates from every political party for primary elections should be strictly monitored to ensure that the outcome is not influenced by financial gifts. In the same manner, the elected delegates should be given orientation on how sensitive their roles are by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other civil society organizations.