Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences
Volume 12, No. 2, 2014
DOI: 10.36108/ijss/4102.21.0260
Toward Consolidating Democracy in Nigeria: Is All Progressive Congress A Credible Opposition Party?
Chris C. Ojukwu
Department of Communication and General Studies, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
Abstract
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the beginning of the Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999, has been severally criticized for its failure to give focus to attempts to correct perceived structural deformities and to lay an institutional foundation for a just and equitable sharing of the political space by ethnic nationalities that comprised the federal polity. The country has, as a result of this, continuously and consistently degenerated to a level of being perceived as a failed or ‘collapsed’ state. Some scholars have even referred it to as a one-party state despite the avalanche of registered political parties in the state. It is therefore, against this backdrop that the paper examines the potency of the fused opposition party- ‘The All Progressive Congress’ (APC) that was formed essentially to challenge the ruling party- PDP The paper questions the credibility of the APC in the context of having what it takes to consolidate democratic governance in Nigeria.
Keywords: Political Parties, Opposition Parties, Democracy, Governance