Babayo Sule

• BSc Political Science (Unimaid), MSc Political Science (BUK), PhD Political Science (UUM)
• Lecturer at Federal University Kashere

Recent developments in some West African countries are a classic case of reversal of democratic rule and have raised doubts about the feasibility of democracy in Africa. This study examines the factors that have led to the resurgence of coups d'état and the possibility of constructing a new typology of coups d'état and military rule in 21st century...

In this chapter, the basic concepts and explanations of the recurring terms in the book are explained in detail. The chapter provides a general overview of conceptualised terms such as the meaning of political parties, types of party systems, party organisation, institutionalisation of parties, functions of parties, ideology and theorisation of pol...

This chapter deals with one of the most critical aspects of democratic accountability and transparency, party funding, which is a headache for policymakers around the world. Some important issues explored in this chapter are the prospects of party funding, party funding in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, regulations and problems in party financing, sour...

The emergence of political parties in Nigeria is treated historically through a periodisation of the colonial era (1922–1959), the First Republic (1960–1966), the Second Republic (1979–1984), the Aborted Third Republic (1986–1991) and the Fourth Republic (1999–2024). By tracing the roots of the emergence of the parties in Nigeria, the chapter caref...

The chapter addresses emerging issues on the activities and development of political parties in the Fourth Republic in relation to civil societies. Party development is critically analysed in terms of the development of civil societies in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, the relationship between parties and civil societies in building democracy in Nigeri...

This chapter analyses the party system and classification in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria, taking into account the uniqueness of the Nigerian setting and a divergence from the global context and previous parties. In this regard, the chapter distinguishes the following categories: multi-party systems, two-party systems, ethnic parties, regional pa...

The chapter concludes the entire discourse of the book and summarises the most important insights that a reader can draw from reading the book. After the concise presentation of the major themes, this chapter presents some practical measures to consolidate the Nigerian parties in the Fourth Republic. These include a rethinking of registration proce...

This chapter is about one of the most fundamental roles of parties in democracy: representation. The chapter examines how parties represent or fail to represent the grassroots and the electorate in areas such as political parties and legislation in the National Assembly; political parties and the connection to the grassroots and how this affects st...

This chapter examines an interesting aspect of modern party organisation and work. The influence of the media on party politics in the Fourth Republic is discussed in terms of the influence of media houses on parties and the way in which parties used the media platform for campaigning and political propaganda as well as for political advertising. I...

One of the major habits of parties in Nigeria is power tussle and internal conflict. This chapter traces the patterns and changing trends of intra-party conflicts in the parties of the Fourth Republic and establishes a link between the conflicts and the successes, challenges and electoral outcomes of the parties. Among the issues discussed in this...

This chapter discusses some critical issues related to party politics and party switching, constitutional views on party switching, the manifestations of party switching and the impact of party switching on the democratisation of the Fourth Republic. Interestingly, the chapter informs that party defections have become an acceptable norm in Nigeria’...

This chapter discusses the issue of ideology in relation to the parties in the Fourth Republic. Some of the key issues are: ideology and party politics, ideology and conflict, ideology and party programmes, and ideology and representation. The study finds that the lack of a clearly defined ideology in all parties impairs good party organisation, in...

This chapter examines the characteristics of Nigerian parties in the Fourth Republic based on the behaviours they exhibit. Some of these identified behaviours are ethnicity, regionalism and power tussle, internal conflicts and electoral politics. Interestingly, the chapter shows that almost all the parties registered in the Nigerian Fourth Republic...

The chapter adopts a comparative approach to examine the major ruling parties in Nigeria, the APC and the PDP, with some similar parties in Africa. The chapter establishes some criteria that qualify a party for comparison. Based on the technique used, APC and PDP are grouped together as one party that has similar characteristics for comparison with...

Africa is blessed with a young population that is energetic and within the cycle of productive engagement. Most African states have more than half of their population between 15 and 24 years and the youth bulge is projected to double in the next 20 years while in some countries, it will triple. Unfortunately, the young population in Africa is not a...

Violence, particularly that unauthorized by state authorities, is one of the mainstream security challenges that Africa as a continent is facing at this time. A report indicates that more than two–thirds of African states are currently facing one form of violence or another, including political, gender-based, economic, social, cultural, religious,...

Elections in Nigeria are increasingly turning democratic practice into a bazaar for the highest bidder. Preparations for the 2023 General Election, especially the purchase of statements of interest and nomination forms, as well as party primaries, threaten to squeeze non-super-rich candidates out of participation. This study examines how Nigerian d...

Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) are now regarded in global security discourse as one of the threats to collective, regional and individual states’ peace and security. SALW are weapons that could either be operated by an individual or a small group of people and they consist of revolvers, semi-automatic machine guns, projectiles, grenades and re...

In discussing the presidential elections in Nigeria, an important area of attention is the policy choices and development projects initiated by the presidents. This should have influenced voters’ choices and preferences. In other democracies, especially advanced ones, the electorate is influenced by the policies and programmes as well as ideologies...

Presidential elections in Nigeria are the most interesting of all elections in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria because the office is vested with excessive powers and presidents are informally centralised and powerful. Often, many voters participate in presidential elections and abstain in other elections because they are under the mistaken impressio...

This chapter deals with influential elements that determine the power game and the elites’ competition for control of power in the country’s presidential elections. Like other presidential systems, Nigerian Presidential Elections are characterised by some factors that clarify how and why candidates emerged, who influenced them, who financed them an...

The chapter analytically examines the various presidential elections from 1999 to 2023, taking into account the circumstances surrounding each election, the nature of voting, the analysis of the results and the changes in the process. Before doing so, however, it is necessary to explain the presidential elections from a global perspective.

The chapter examines the historical background of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The term ‘Fourth Republic’ was coined to symbolise the country’s fourth attempt at democratisation after seemingly incessant military interference in Nigerian politics. The first attempt took place in 1960, a few months after the attainment of political independence. The a...

This chapter concludes the numerous topics covered so far in this book by comparing the Nigerian presidential elections with those of other states that have a presidential system. Three key considerations are made. First, Nigeria is almost completely similar to the American political structure. Both states have a federal presidential system with ma...

Party politics is an essential aspect of democracy and elections everywhere. Nigerian presidential elections, like other elections around the world, are conducted within the framework of political parties, which provide the platform for recruitment, mobilisation, training and opportunity for representation. This challenges the concepts of internal...

This chapter examines the background of the presidential system in the Nigerian democratisation process. As outlined in the previous chapters, Nigeria’s political trajectory in the pre-colonial, colonial and early phase of the post-colonial era was not structured in the present form of presidential federalism.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the electoral body responsible for the conduct of presidential elections in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria. The Commission has the constitutional mandate to register and delineate constituencies, allocate polling units, register voters, register and deregister political parties and make regula...

From this section onwards, the book focuses on the post-presidential election period and the impact of presidential powers, policymaking and constitutional roles.

Islamophobia is the contemporary form of religious persecution as an Islamic share of the phenomenon after other Abrahamic religions in the past. Judaism, science, and Christianity have had their share of torment in Europe many centuries ago, and now it seems the turn of Islam to taste the bitter pill of religious torture and cultural intolerance....

Xenophobia and Nativism are among the main obstacles that are beleaguering Africa’s unity and progress. The early African leaders, particularly, during decolonisation process, nursed and developed an ambitious strategy of coordination and cooperation by designing a platform of uniting all black race across the world. Unfortunately, misrule, misgove...

Purpose - Nigeria is the seventh most populous country in the world, and estimated population growth suggests that it will become the fourth most populous country by 2050. Population distribution shows a dominant youth bulge and geometric growth in the last three decades. However, blessed with a large population, Nigeria suffers from hunger and foo...

Purpose - Nigeria is the seventh most populous country in the world, and estimated population growth suggests that it will become the fourth most populous country by 2050. Population distribution shows a dominant youth bulge and geometric growth in the last three decades. However, blessed with a large population, Nigeria suffers from hunger and foo...

Political party funding is an important issue for all global key players in democratic accountability and transparency. One of the areas where the phenomenon is attracting interest is Nigeria. The 2019 General Election represents an important period for the study of party financing in Nigeria. This study critically examines the cost of an election...

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced and altered the daily routine of the masses around the globe. The pandemic has far-reaching economic, political, social, and cultural implications on the African continent. Although Africa witnessed low levels of infections and deaths as compared to other continents, African socio-economic life was affected trem...

Climate change is gradually transforming the globe into a difficult zone of survival for all faunas and floras owing to the existential threat that some changes are causing in the environment. The careless and unguarded activities and detrimental practices of man created a chain of reaction of nature in the surrounding environment leading to the co...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

In Political Party Financing and Electoral Politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Babayo Sule provides a detailed analysis of the process of political party financing in Nigeria from 1999 to the present. Sule links the party financing process with the electoral process and explores issues of democratic accountability, transparency, and corruption i...

Nigeria is composed of plural and multi-complex societies with multiple ethnic groups of up to 500 cultural diversities. This country surmounts the obstacles of managing diversity through an informal setting popularly identified as a zoning formula and power sharing among the federating units. The pattern and trend in which the practice maintains N...

Democracy is being pushed aggressively on a global scale as the best and final form of government without even an alternative offered to the opposing views by the champions of the system in the 21 st century. The main arguments presented by the apologies of democracy are its feasibility of providing and guaranteeing freedom of speech, liberty of ch...

Purpose This study aims to examine the threats posed by cybercrimes toward the quest for achieving a reliable digital economy and to identify practical strategies for countering the crime. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative phenomenological paradigm was used as the methodology. Both primary and secondary sources were consulted for data coll...

Money politics has become an acceptable norm and a part of Nigerian political culture before and after the conduct of general elections since the resurgence of the democratic rule in the Fourth Republic (1999). The nature and dimension of money politics have taken a new picture in Nigerian politics during the party primaries in preparation for the...

Political parties are the engine wheel and the machinery on which the vehicle of democracy thrives. Democracies require sound parties with focused leadership and a clear ideology for national development on the assumption of power. In Nigeria, the two dominant ruling parties of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which ruled for sixteen years and t...

Political parties require strong financial backing to operate. Campaign activities require massive spending to convince electorates to accept the candidature of political parties in their locations. Yet, there are financial regulations on how campaigns and related activities should be conducted in Nigeria. This is to ensure transparency and account...

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic globally and in Nigeria paved the foundation for the political, economic, social, cultural adjustments and perception. Northern Nigeria is renowned for religious conservatism and for being adamant towards beliefs that seem alien to the dominant culture in the region. In the midst of COVID-19 outbreak, the religious...

Electoral fraud is identified as an albatross on genuine democratisation in Nigerian politics. The Nigerian political culture demonstrates a zero-sum game where a winner takes all and where a winner employs all amoral ineptitude to secure victory. The situation is escalated at the grassroots level in the country where the constitutional three-tier...

The history of Africa in modern times is incomplete without looking at some pertinent themes that shaped the current sociopolitical and economic relations within and outside the continent. The interwoven nature of mankind’s relationship politically, economically, socially, and culturally created interest and interest groups that interact to press f...

Pandemic remains a universal problem because it usually comes with a noxious virus that affects the world and it tends to even more pronounce due to globalization that is directly affecting economy and politics through several ways. Although, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has less effect on African part in terms of death and casualties in c...

Pandemic remains a universal problem because it usually comes with a noxious virus that affects the world and it tends to even more pronounce due to globalization that is directly affecting economy and politics through several ways. Although, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has less effect on African part in terms of death and casualties in c...

This study examines the implications of cybercrime and weak cybersecurity defense for Nigeria's national security and digital economy from the perspective of nontraditional discourse within international security debates. The research adopted a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis, with both primary and secondary source data employe...

This study investigates the effects of election postponement on the outcome and performance of the 2019 General Election, as well as practices of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Process of Electoral Conduct in Nigeria. The study adopts a case study design and utilizes a qualitative approach in which both primary and seconda...

Democracy is identified as one of the best forms of government worldwide because of its aspirations and a promising tendency to foster accountability and transparency in all its ramifications. This includes the channel of selecting leaders, the governance process, and financial spending. One of the major concerns for democratic governance is how to...

Purpose: Colonialism, a phenomenon which has long gone remains an interesting subject of debates especially among the African scholars. This is perhaps, due to the aggressive nature in which colonialism violently altered the evolutionary destiny of the African states. Any study that carefully dig deeply can easily come up with an area of contributi...

Civil society organizations have played a pivotal role in democratization process in Nigeria since the advent of the Fourth Republic. They have greatly helped in the success of the 2015 and 2019 General Elections through pre-election, during election, and in post-election monitoring and advocacy. This article, therefore, examined the role of the Ni...

The COVID 19 pandemic has become a global health issue that now intersects with security issues, especially in African countries. The outbreak of the virus in Africa has halted political, economic and social activities, including countering armed violence. Nigeria is one of the African countries that is faced with security challenges, ranging from...