Commodification of Politics: Party Funding and Electoral Contest in Nigeria

• Published in: SAGE open 2019-06, Vol.9 (2)
• Main Author: Ayeni, Oluwadare O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Political parties
• ISSN: 2158-2440; 2158-2440
• DOI: 10.1177/2158244019855855

Globally, political parties have become unavoidable institutions playing pivotal roles in the public administration advancement of nations. The importance of these roles have made it a subject of debate and concern among stakeholders on the best ways to finance political parties that will maintain equality and equity during elections. This article argues that electoral success in Nigeria is expected to be influenced by personality values and traits. Despite the canonic belief in integrity, people of integrity, professionals, and retired civil servants appear to be abstaining from party politics as they do not see it as an avenue through which they can make their contribution to the building of a nation because of the presumption that politics is for those who have the wherewithal different from integrity and expertise. The political competition is always economically demanding with a lot of victories and failures against the backdrop of expectations and speculations. This article interrogates the key issues responsible for election victory and failure with special reference to party funding in Nigeria. It concludes by making policy options for electoral umpire handling elections in emerging democracy like Nigeria.