The Implications of Intra-Party Conflicts on

Abstract

Incessant intra-party conflicts which come in varying magnitudes and intensities have become the hallmark of party politics in Nigeria's Fourth Republic. Some of these conflicts have led to the factionalisation of some major political parties and the consequence of decamping from one political party to the other by party members. Intra-party conflicts are engendered primarily because of the insatiable greed of the political elites for political power which creates the access for primitive accumulation of the commonwealth of the people. This negative trend in political parties has been having profound negative impact on the country's democratisation process, against the background that political parties are vehicles of representative democracy and a strong pillar for consolidating democratic governance. However, the ability of political parties to achieve this very important role is dependent on whether the relationship that exists between their members is harmonious or conflict ridden, owing to the fact that social groups exist by conflict and cooperation as it has been articulated in the theory of intra-group cooperation proposed in this paper. It is recommended therefore that political parties should ensure that they entrench internal democracy within their internal dynamics, especially with regards to selection of candidates for elections within and outside their parties. It is also obligatory on all members of political parties to subordinate themselves to their party constitution and not to the whims and caprices of power mongers in their parties. Finally, political parties should also orient their members to imbibe and exhibit values and ideals that would sustain the process of democratisation in Nigeria.