PARTY FORMATION AND LEADERSHIP RECRUITMENT PROCESSES IN THE POST-COLONIAL STATE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Modern democracy has made leadership recruitment process through way leaders emerge. The paper assesses party formation and politics imbedded in the formation of these parties from the first generation political parties to the present political parties in Nigeria. Historical analysis was used. The paper found that Nigeria’s recruitment process lacks transparency, even as it features politics of mediocrity and power play, which often leads to the emergence of leaders against the actual mandate of members of the political party. It further reveals that politicians keep jumping from one political party to another due to lack of clear ideology. The paper thus, suggests that internal democracy of political parties to be instituted; removal of the provision for second term; and that zoning system should be codified and concretized in the parties’ constitution.