Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byVeronica Armstrong Modified over 9 years ago
1
Nigeria: Political Institutions AP Comparative Government
2
Government In Nigeria today, the government takes on a formal federal and democratic format Even though the constitution lays out a federal structure, it is generally not operated in such a fashion
3
Political Parties Political parties in Nigeria have almost always been regionally and ethnically based Nigeria has developed so many parties that is almost impossible to create a coherent party system This multi-party system has lead to great ethnic and religious cleavages
4
Political Parties The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) This party has run candidates for office since as early as 1998 This is the party of Olusegun Obsanjo and in 2003 he received 62% of the presidential vote In 2007 fellow member Umaru Yar’Adua received 70% of the vote The PDP also gained an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly Most governors elected were also part of the PDP Current President Goodluck Jonathan is a member of the PDP as well
5
Political Parties The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) This party was founded in 2009 in order to run a candidate in the 2011 election It was founded by General Muhammadu Buhari and stems from the Buhari Organization Due to conflicts with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Buhari split from the group and formed the CPC Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) This party is run by Nuh Ribadu, but he only received 5.5% of the vote presidential vote
6
Presidential Elections If a presidential candidate does not receive an outright majority a second ballot election may take place In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan won 59% of the vote Nigeria also requires that a presidential candidate win 2/3 of all the states in order to win the presidency
7
Legislative Elections The Senate has 109 senators There are three senators from each state and one from the federal capital Abuja Senators are elected by popular vote The House of Representatives has 360 seats Representatives are from single member districts and win through plurality Because of the lack of strong party powers, legislative power is very weak and requires coalitions for legislation to be created
8
Election Fraud Nigeria is considered to have made great progress towards democratization because they have held 2 regularly scheduled elections in a row Despite the fact that six million fraudulent names were stricken from voter rolls in 2003, ballot boxes were vandalized, stolen, and stuffed with fraudulent votes This was especially true in the south This type of fraud took place in 2007 as well There was also no privacy for voters and unused ballots were filled out and deposited
9
Interest Groups Interest groups have played an important role in Nigerian government and politics These interest groups generally revolve around ethnic, religious, and labor organizations A large number of Muslim civil society organizations work in the north to support the sharia court system State-corporatism was used in the past to keep labor groups from having much of an impact on the passage of legislation With recent attempts to institute democracy, those groups have had greater power
10
Interest Groups In 2007, the Nigeria Labor Congress were able successfully strike to in protest of high fuel prices Due to these strikes, the government continued their subsidy of gas prices Some interest groups have formed to promote human rights These groups generally push for democratic reform and many of these groups collaborate with each other in order to cultivate further success
11
Mass Media Nigeria has a long history of well-developed and independent press This is all despite the fact that in 1994 General Abacha tried to close papers who criticized him The press does reflect ethnic and cultural divisions throughout the country The most outspoken papers are in the south During the 2007 election, the media was highly critical of the corruption taking place in the election Radio is the main source of information, with newspapers and TV common in the cities
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.