Political Party Rebellion, Legislative Politics and Balance of Power in the 8th National Assembly of Nigeria
Keywords:
zoning, federal character, senate, internal conflict, national assembly
Abstract
The issue of equitable power sharing in the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled federal legislature has been very contentious in the 8th National Assembly of Nigeria. This paper analyses the legislative politics and politics of office distribution in Nigeria focusing on how elite struggles for power and influence shape the internal conflicts and implementation of zoning principles in the National Assembly. Legislatures evolve and develop internally in reaction to broader political environment. Zoning and rotation principle are part of a democratic culture used to address the problems inherent in a plural society of underdeveloped states. The zoning principle is structured to deliberately ensure some degree of diversity. This is indispensable to the maintenance of the Nigerian State due to its diversity in ethnicity, religion, language, education, etc. This article analyses the conflicts arising from an attempt to change the zoning principle and office distribution imbedded in the federal character principle in Nigeria. It focuses on how elite struggle for power and money shape the conception, implementation, and continuity of zoning of offices and positions in order to maintain ethnic balancing. The article adopts a methodology involving qualitative research based on a review of published literature.
Downloads
- Lens* NISO JATS XML (Beta by AI)
- HTML Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- DBK XML Kaleidoscope (download in zip)* (Beta by AI)
- LaTeX pdf Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- EPUB Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- MD Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- FO Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- BIB Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- LaTeX Kaleidoscope* (Beta by AI)
- Article PDF
- TEI XML Kaleidoscope (download in zip)* (Beta by AI)
How to Cite
References
A Akinola (1996) Rotational Presidency.
T Akinola (2013) Nigeria Has A Balance of Power Problem.
E Awa (1973) Issues in Federalism.
F Ayelabowo (2015) Senate Presidency: Leadership Progression, Ranking and National Interest.
A Banjo (2013) Leadership Crisis in the Parliament of Nigeria: The Case of the Senate in the Fourth Republic. 5(6), 135-144.
J Barkan (2009) African Legislatures and Third Wave Democratization.
T Bouricius, D Schecter (2013) An Idealized Design for the Legislative Branch of Government. 2(1).
G Boyton, C Kim (1975) Legislature Systems in Developing Countries.
R Branton, B Jones (2005) Reexamining Racial Attitudes: The Conditional Relationship between Diversity and Socioeconomic Environment. 49(2), 359-372.
Journal System (2006) CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2006. (03-04).
P Cohen (1968) Modern Social Theory.
D Chukwu (2015) Haunted by his Past, Troubles with the Senate. 12-13.
R Dancygier (2007) Immigration and Conflict.
Matthias Matthias (1999) A Review of The Blind Spot of Section 12 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended).
Chiamaka Nkiruka, Briggs D.A (1999) WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF RIVERS STATE WASTE MANAGEMENT AGENCY. 8(02), 755-765.
R Forgette (1997) Reeds Rules and the Partisan Theory of Legislative Organization. 29(3), 375-396.
M Haber (2015) The Legislative Consequences of Internal Conflict and Inter-Party Divisions.
Daniel Hopkins (2010) Politicized Places: Explaining Where and When Immigrants Provoke Local Opposition. 104(1), 40-60.
R Hortala-Vallve (2008) Generous Legislators? A Descrption of Vote Trade Agreements (Theory and Experiment). (2).
O Ibeanu, P Mbah (2012) The 2011 General Elections and Electoral Violence and Insecurity in Nigeria. 38(2), 17-43.
O Ibeanu, P Mbah (2014) The African Union and Democracy in Africa: Some Preliminary Observations. 2, 30-54.
Chito C Ekwealor, Amarachi F Ibeanu, Chikodili G Anaukwu, Vivian N Anakwenze, Tobechukwu Mc Ajogwu, Josephine C Ohuche (2012) Secondary Metabolite Profiling and Antibacterial Activities of Indigenous Serratia marcescens. 1-8.
R Joseph (1987) Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic.
N Krishnan (2013) Do Legislatures Matter? Strengthening Governance in Africa.
P Mbah (2014) Politics and the Adoption of the Policy of State Emergency in Nigeria: Explaining the 1962 and 2013 Experiences. 5(15), 587-596.
P Mbah (2014) Demystifying Intra-Legislative Conflicts in Nigeria: The Senate and the House of Representatives, 2007-2011. 5(1), 677-689.
S Mozaffar, J Scarritt, G Galaich (2003) Electoral Institutions, Ethnopolitical Cleavages, and Party Systems in Africa's Emerging Democracies. 97(03), 379-390.
N Nkume-Okorie (2014) Rotation and zoning: Extra-constitutional frameworks for Nigeria's political stability.
O Nnoli (1978) Ethnic Politics in Nigeria.
O Nnoli (1993) Nnoli (ed) Dead-End to Nigeria Development: An Analysis of Political Economy of Nigeria, 1979 -1989.
O Nnoli (2003) Introduction to Politics.
T Olaiya, D Apeloko, I Amanchukwu, B Shiyanbade (2014) Rethinking Zoning formula as Political Panacea for Ethnic Conflict and Governance Crisis in Nigeria. 4(26), 1-15.
F Ojonugwa (2012) Political Appointments in Nigeria: Between Zoning and Competence.
N Orji (2008) Eat and Give to your Brother': The Politics of Office Distribution in Nigeria. 3(2), 125-139.
N Ornstein (1992) Freedom to speak and freedom to spend. 33-61.
C Osuji (2014) Political zoning: An imperative for equity and political stability.
M Ovienmhada (2015) Zoning of Political Offices.
M Penn (2009) A Model of Farsighted Voting. 53(1), 36-54.
H Pitkin (1972) The Concept of Representation.
Daniel Posner (2004) The Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas Are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi. 98(4), 529-545.
R Protberg (2013) African Legislative Effectiveness.
Robert Putnam (2007) E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty‐first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. 30(2), 137-174.
Thomas Remington, Steven Smith (1998) Theories of Legislative Institutions and the Organization of the Russian Duma. 42(2), 545.
R Sanders (2014) African Legislatures in African Democracies: The Need to be Both Transformative and Transactional.
E Schwartz, P Spiller, S Urbiztondo (1994) A positive Theory of Legislative Intent. 57(1).
R Suberu (1988) Federalism and Nigeria's Political Future: A Comment. 87(348), 431-439.
C Wong, K Drake (2006) Multiracial Identities in Multiracial Contexts: The Conditional.
Published
2016-04-11
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2016 Authors and Global Journals Private Limited
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.