ABSTRACT
The Study examined internal democracy in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Katsina State from 2009 to 2012. In the course of this study data was sourced from two major sources; the Secondary and the Primary Sources. The Secondary sources were from existing literature on Party Politics and Intra-party democracy while Interview method was adopted as the main primary source of data in this study to generate data from the selected key informants within the Party both at the National and State levels. In addition, qualitative method of analysis was adopted to present and analyze data based on the objectives of the study, within the theoretical framework of Elite theory particularly the Iron law of oligarchy developed by Roberto Michel. The Study conclude that the party in the study area did not employ democratic principles in its activities as members were not fully included in the affairs of the party especially regarding the issue of candidate selection during the primaries and agenda setting within the party. The study recommends that the current Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) must be reviewed to incorporate the deleted provision of section 87(9) of the repeal Electoral Act 2010, which provides that “where a political party fails to comply with the provision of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidates for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue. With such provision in place, the Electoral Commission will be able to enforce compliance with internal democratic mechanisms as provided for by the Electoral Act, and also strengthen the Commission’s supervisory role under Sec 85(2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration………………………….…………………………………….…………………..…..i
Certification………………………………………………………………………………………..iDedication………..………………………………………………………..…………….……….iii
Acknowledgement..………………………………………………………………………..…….iv
Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………………v-vii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………viii
Table of contents……………………………………………………………..…………….…ix-xii
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study……………………………………………………………..1-3
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem……………………………………………………..3
1.3 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………….3-4
1.4 Aim and Objectives……………………………………………………………………..4
1.5 Research Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………4
1.6 Justification of the Study………………………………………………………………4-5
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study.……………………………………………………..5
1.8 Research Methodology………………………………………………………………5-10
1.9 Definition of Concepts…………………………………………………………………..10
1.10 Organization of the Work…………………………………………………………….10-11
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………12
2.2 Democracy……………………………………………………………………………12-16
2.3 Origin of Political Parties…………………………….………………………………16-17
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2.3.1 Types of Political Parties……………………………………………………………18-19
2.3.2 One Party System……………………………………………………………………19-20
2.3.3 Two Party System…………………………………………………………………….20-21
2.3.4 Multi Party System…………………………………………………………………..21-22
2.3.5 Critical Roles of Political Parties……………………………………………………..22-24
2.3.6 Centrality of Political Parties in Modern Democracy………………………………24-27
2.4 Political Parties and Internal Democracy……………………………………………28-31
2.5 Internal Democracy in African Political Parties………………………………………31-36
2.6 Gaps in the Literature…………………………………………………………………….36
2.7 Theoretical Framework………………………………………..………………………….36
2.7.1 Elite Theory……………………………………………………………………………36-40
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 PERSPECTIVES ON NIGERIAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTERNAL DEMOCRACY
3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………41
3.2 Development of Political Parties in Nigeria…………………………………………….41
3.2.1 Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP)………………………………………41-42
3.2.2 The Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM)……………………………………………..42-43
3.2.3 The National Council for Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC)…………………………43-44
3.2.4 Action Group (AG)………………………………………………………………..….44-45
3.2.5 Northern People‟s Congress (NPC)…………………………………………………..45-46
3.3 Parties in the Second Republic……………………………………………………….46-47
3.3.1 National Party of Nigeria (NPN)……………………………………………………47-48
3.3.2 Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN)………………………………………………………47-48
3.3.3 Nigeria‟s People‟s Party (NPP)………………………………………………………49-50
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3.4 Evolution of Political Parties in the Aborted Third Republic…………………………..50
3.4.1 National Republican Convention (NRC)…………………………………………………51
3.4.2 Social Democratic Party (SDP)………………………………………………………51-52
3.5 Political Parties in the Fourth Republic……………………………………………….52-53
3.5.1 People‟s Democratic Party (PDP)……………………………………………………53-54
3.5.2 Alliance for Democracy (AD)………………………………………………………54-56
3.5.3 All Nigerian People‟s Party (ANPP)…………………………………………………56-58
3.6 Political Parties and internal Democracy in Nigeria…………………………………58-66
3.6.1 Nature of Internal Democracy in Nigerian Political Parties of the fourth Republic…66-67
3.6.2 People Democratic Party (PDP)…………………………………………………….67-68
3.6.3 Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)………………………………………………….69-70
3.6.4 All Nigerian People‟s Party (ANPP)………………………………………………70-71
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 CONGRESS FOR PROGRESSIVE CHANGE (CPC) AND INTERNAL DEMOCRACY IN KATSINA STATE: AN ASSESSMENT
4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…72
4.2 Historical Background of Katsina State……………………………………………….72-74
4.2.1 Administrative Structure…………………………………………………………………75
4.2.2 Governors and Administrators………………………………………………………….75
4.2.3 Emirs of Katsina…………………………………………………………………………..76
4.2.4 Agricultural Resources, Mineral and Industries…………………………………………76
4.3 Formation of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)……..……………………………77
4.3.1 Foundation…………………………………………………………………………….77-79
4.3.2 Aim and Objectives of the Party…………………………………………………………79
4.3.3 The Objectives of the Party…………………………………………………………..79-80
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4.3.4 Membership of the Party…………………………………………………………..……..80
4.3.5 Party Organization……………………………………………………………………….81
4.3.6 Party Organs……………………………………………………………………………..81
4.3.7 Ideology of CPC………………………………………………………………………….82
4.4 CPC before 2011 General Election….…………………………………………….…82-90
4.4.1 CPC and Pre-election Controversies in Katsina State…………………………………………90-101
4.4.2 Aftermath effect of the Primary elections in Katsina State…………………………….102
4.4.3 The Masari Faction………………………………………………………………..102-104
4.4.4 The Lado Faction………………………………………………………………..104-105
4.5 The Role of National Executives of the Party on the issues of internal democracy in CPC in Katsina State……………………………………………………………………..105-109
4.6 CPC and the Court Ruling in Katsina State………………………………………..109-115
4.7 Summary of the Major findings…………………………………………………….116-117
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summaary…………………………………………………………………………..118-119
5.2 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..120-121
5.3 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………..…122
References….……………………………………………………………………123- 127
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CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Following the global trend where military and monarchical rules are fading and liberal democracy is taking the lead, the right of the people to exercise their franchise is now the order of the day. People are now conscious about who rules and under which platform. All these would not have been achievable today without the platform of political parties. Political parties are very important in our today‟s polity, candidates seeking elective offices contest under the platform of a political party and every political party should have its ideology and manifesto. This determines the kind of rules or policy to be expected from the candidates of such parties. The increasing number of political parties provides and accommodates the ideologies of the electorates. This has helped to a large extent in increasing the level of political consciousness and participation even at the remotest part of the country.
Political parties are associations formally organized with the explicit and declared purpose of acquiring and or maintaining legal control, either singly or in coalition with other similar associations, over the personnel and the policy of the government of an actual or prospective state. Political parties are pre-eminent and very important institutions of modern democratic governance. The general consensus is that political parties created democracy and modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of political parties. Since political parties are essential components of a democratic machine, it is of utmost importance that they should be democratic in their internal operations. This therefore makes internal party democracy an important feature which political parties must practice in order t o be able to make fundamental input to any democratic arrangement and speed up democratic processes and consolidation.
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Membership participation in political parties is very vital to the survival of the parties in particular and democracy in general. Members participate in political parties through processes such as policy formulation, leadership and candidates‟ selection as well as their role in party organs at all levels of the party structure. For the purpose of this research, intra-party democracy refers to the extent to which political parties decision making structures and processes provide oppotunitities for individual citizens to influence the choice that parties offer to voters and eventually to determine the type of government formed (Scarrow 2005). Intra-party democracy is essential for the creation and growth of well functioning and sustainable democratic institutions. Firstly, it encourages a culture of democratic debate and deliberation of critical issues and therefore collective ownership of decisions. Secondly, it promotes party unity through reduced factionalism and/or fragmentation. Thirdly, it creates legitimate internal conflict management systems. No universal definition exists regarding the concept of internal party democracy, although several scholars agree on some basic principles of electivity, accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, decentralization, participation and representation.
The attainment of intra-party democracy as outlined above depends on the extent to which processes of effective membership participation are formally stipulated and practically implemented in the party‟s organizational rules and procedures. When there is ineffective enforcement, or complete absence of such rules, the party may be faced with significant operational challenges including centralized decision making, non-inclusive leadership and candidates selection processes, undemocratic conflict management mechanisms and unconstitutional or illegitimate party conventions.
These challenges often result in undesired outcomes such as lack of cohesion, factionalism and instability leading to resignations and/or expulsions, declining membership and
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electoral support as well as weak coalitions. These factors ultimately undermine political parties‟ effectiveness as agents of democracy. A critical examination of political parties in Nigeria since the Colonial period (1922) up to the present fouth republic (PDP, ANPP, ACN etc) reveals that they have manifested an apparent lack of internal party democracy. For Nigerian political parties to be able to make meaningful and effective contribution in the direction of genuine democratic sustenance there is the need to imbibe the principles of internal party democracy, which ultimately becomes inevitable.
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
For a democratic system of government to be in place and in line with liberal democracy, there should be political parties to recruit members in order to form a government. The need to aggregate diverse interests from society to produce a common policy and the role of educating and creating a wide menu of choices at elections for voters to support their individual candidates are some of the functions of political parties. In achieving these functions, there should be internal democracy within parties devoid of ethnicity, religious bigotry and godfatherism. This study therefore, examined Internal democracy within the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Katsina State from 2009-2012.
1.3 Research Questions
This study is therefore posed to provide answers to the following research questions.
i. Has the CPC employed democratic principles in its operation in the study area within the period under study?
ii. How has the applicability or otherwise of internal democracy affected the Performance of the party in Katsina State?
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iii. Were the candidates for elections chosen according to democratic principles?
1.4 Aim and Objectives
The aim of this study is to examine internal democracy within the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Katsina State and the specific objectives are as follows:
i. To examine whether the party (CPC) employed democractic principles in its activities in the study area between the periods under study.
ii. To examine how the applicability or otherwise of internal democracy affected the performance of the party in the study area in 2011 general elections.
iii. To ascertain whether the candidates of the party were chosen according to democratic principles in preparation for 2011 general elections in the study area.
1.5 Assumptions of the Study
The research is based on the following hypotheses:
i. There is no internal democracy within CPC in Katsina State in the period under study.
ii. There is internal democracy within CPC in Katsina State in the period under study.
1.6 Justification of the Study
Most works on party politics tend to lay more emphasis on the establishment of political parties in Nigeria. However, attempt to capture internal democracy in Nigerian political parties in general and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in particular in Katsina State has not been sufficiently covered. Even where studies on the issue of internal democracy in CPC have been discussed, mostly on the pages of newspapers, these issues have not sufficiently covered the
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realities of the subject matter within the period under study. This research work seeks to fill the academic gap created.
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The scope of this study covers the activities of CPC in Katsina State from 2009 to 2012. The study covers the issue of internal party democracy within CPC in Katsina State, the factors that shape the formation of CPC as well as the analysis of the factors that led the party through the path of crisis. The choice of the period under study was basically due to the fact that the party was registered lately in 2009 in preparation for 2011 general elections.
The limitations of the study hinges on reluctance of some party officials and some key informants in giving confidential and vital information on the subject matter. The study had hoped to interview the National Chairman Board of Trustees of CPC who was the presidential candidate of the party in the last 2011 general elections and INEC Chairman from Katsina State, but all efforts to have audience with them proved abortive. Also, the study made several efforts to interview a gubernatorial candidate of the party from the state in person of Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari but was not opportuned due to the avoidance of the researcher by the candidate.
1.8 Research Methodology
This aspect of the study covers all methological issues as affect this particular study
1.8.1 Research Design
The research design for this work is based on Case Study. Asika (1991:118) defines a Case Study as an intensive study geared towards a thorough understanding of a given social phenomenon. This is the basis of taking CPC in Katsina State as the case in point, in an effort to
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examine the issue of internal democracy in the State between the period 2009-2012. Although a case study is time consuming but, nonetheless provides thorough background information on which further investigation can be built.
1.8.2 Sources of Data Collection
For the purpose of this research, data were gathered from two major sources. These are the secondary sources and primary sources.
The secondary sources were from the existing literature on party politics, Intra-Party Democracy in general, court proceedings, CPC Constitution, 1999 Constitution, Electoral Acts etc, which were documented in academic books, journals, periodicals, published articles, magazines, newspapers and internet materials. These secondary sources were derived from the Kashim Ibrahim Library, ABU Zaria, Postgraduate Library of the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences Library, INEC Office, and Constitution of the Party from the National Secretariat of the party (CPC), Abuja.
In-depth Interview is the main data collection instrument for primary source of data used in this Study. The interviews were open ended; revolving around the objectives and hypothesis of the study. The interview were recorded with the prior consent of the interviewees. Interview instrument enables an interviewer to have deeper knowledge about issues of concern through verbal responses gathered from the interviewee through face-to-face interaction or by telephone or both. It is often considered a very appropriate instrument for gathering data on people‟s knowledge, values, preferences, attitudes, beliefs and life experience relating to the subject matter. Interview method was adopted to generate data from the selected key informants on this
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study. The method was adopted because of the following reasons as captured by Rogers and Domnick in Suleiman (2011).
– It involves small sample size of the people to be interviewed
– The method provides detailed background on the subject matter.
However, the content of the interview was tape-recorded and transcribed for analysis.
1.8.3 Selected Key Informants
Nineteen key informants were purposively selected for interview; they included The Vice-Chairman Board of Trustees of CPC, the National Secretary of the Party, the expelled State Chairman of the Party, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party in Katsina State, some of the gubernatorial aspirants in the state, a National Commissioner of North Western States, some of the serving and affected National Assembly members, some of the party activists in the State as well as two delegates each from the three senatorial zones in the State. See appendix (1).
1.8.4 Method of Selection of the Key Informants
The informants were selected purposively through prior studies of some vital documents that included; the CPC Constitution and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. During the studies of these vital documents, certain positions that are crucial to the effectiveness of the party were identified; as such those who had occupied those positions were selected for interview. Also, the researcher‟s supervisors suggested some individuals to be interviewed based on their functionality and relevance in the party‟s day to day activities.
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1.8.5 Justification for the Selection of Respondent
All the informants selected for the interview had at one point or the other been involved in the issue of internal democracy in Katsina State Chapter of CPC between the periods under study. Starting with Alhaji Sule Yahaya Hamma and Engr. Buba Galadima who were the Vice-Chairman Board of Trustees of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and National Secretary of the party respectively, they were among those very close to General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) the leader of the party, since he joined politics who played active role in the process leading to the formation of the party in 2009. They were also instrumental in providing information to the researcher on some of the NEC decisions on the issue of internal democracy in CPC in Katsina State.
Dr. Yusha‟u Armaya‟u was the Chairman State Chapter of the party (CPC) between the period under study and by virtue of his constitutional role; he was at the centre of all the activities of the party in the State. He provided the researcher with useful information during an interview with him on the conduct of the CPC affairs between the periods under study as well as the dimension the party (CPC) took before, during and after the 2011 general elections in Katsina State.
Alhaji Faruk Adamu Aliyu was the Caretaker Committee Chairman of CPC in Katsina State after Dr. Armaya‟u was expelled from the party. He was able to provide the researcher with information on the problem of internal democracy in CPC in Katsina State and the dimensions such problems took after Dr. Armaya‟u was expelled.
Senator Ahmad Sani Stores, Hon. Abba Sada, Hon. Umar Adam Katsayal were among the affected National Assembly members who provided adequate information on the involvement of
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the Judiciary on the problem of internal democracy in CPC in Katsina State. Also, Hon. Sani Bello Mashi was one of the serving House of Representative members from the State, who provided the researcher with counter information to that provided by the affected National Assembly members on the problem of internal democracy in Katsina State.
Alhaji Munnir Yakubu, Alh. Yakubu Lado Danmarke and Alhaji Mukhtar Lawal was among the gubernatorial aspirants and Campaign Director General of Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari another gubernatorial aspirant in Katsina State respectively. They provided the researcher with adequate information of what transpired during the primary elections and the controversy that erupted in the party after the primary elections that produced Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari as the gubernatorial aspirant in Katsina State in 2011 General elections was concluded. A National INEC Commissioner in person of Muhammad Ahmad Wali incharge of North Western States was also interviewed; he provided the researcher with information regarding the conduct of the party in the study area especially regarding the issue of primary elections in Katsina State. Two delegates each from the three Senatorial zones of Katsina, Funtua and Daura were also instrumental; they provided the researcher with adequate information on the conduct of primary elections and the issue of agenda setting within the party. An Administrative officer, CPC office in Katsina State who was also an activist was also interviewed. He was able to provide information on the activities of the party in the State between the periods under study
1.8.6 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis
Considering the nature of the research problem and the data generated by the study, qualitative method of analysis was employed to present and analyse the data based on the objectives of the study. The adoption of this method is appropriate as captured by Parker, (1994) as pointed out in
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Biereenu-Nnabugwu (2004:159) that Qualitative research is characteristically more involving and the researcher needs to be more deeply involved with the study and the analysis is descriptive in nature. All the relevant issues, research questions and the research problem were listed in the form of themes and sub-themes thereafter inferences were drawn from the interviews to explain these issues in the course of the analysis.
1.9 Definition of Concepts
For easy understanding of the context of this work, a simple definition of some key words used in this work is provided.
Democracy: According to Braton and Van de Walle (1997:13) can be defined as a; “form of political regime in which citizens choose, in competitive elections, the occupants of the top political offices of the state”. This study adopts this definition as a working definition.
Political Parties: these are group of people who come together under common ideology with a view to capture political power.
Internal Democracy: can be defined as the application of openness and integration of all stakeholders in the conduct of party affairs, especially in setting agenda and the selection of Party flag bearers for election. Some of the principles of internal democracy include inclusiveness and decentralization.
1.10 Organization of the Study
This work is structured into five chapters. Chapter one covers the general background to the study. It contains statement of the research problem, research questions, aim and objectives, research hypotheses, scope and limitations of the study, significance of the study and
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organization of the study. Chapter two deals with review of related literature on the subject matter. Also in this chapter, elite theory is adopted as the theoretical framework. Chapter three is on Evolution of political parties in Nigeria and Internal democracy in Nigerian political parties. Chapter four covers historical background of the study area, formation of CPC and the issue of internal democracy in Katsina State: An assessment and Finally, Chapter five covers Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations.
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