PARTY LEADERSHIP AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF THE RIVERS STATE APC FROM 2015-2019

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Abstract

Table of content

CHAPTER ONE

1.0   INTRODUCTION 

1.1        Background of the study

1.2        Statement of problem

1.3        Objective of the study

1.4        Research Hypotheses

1.5        Significance of the study

1.6        Scope and limitation of the study

1.7       Definition of terms

1.8       Organization of the study

CHAPETR TWO

2.0   LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPETR THREE

3.0        Research methodology

3.1        sources of data collection

3.3        Population of the study

3.4        Sampling and sampling distribution

3.5        Validation of research instrument

3.6        Method of data analysis

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Introductions

4.2 Data analysis

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

Appendix

Abstract

party conflicts of all shapes and complexions have been part and parcel of Nigeria’s democratic journey. However, in recent times, they have become much more pervasive and even assumed crisis dimensions, with negative implications for democratic stability and consolidation. The disagreement with the All Progressives Congress in Rivers state is an evidence of shambolic leadership within the party hierarchy in the River state, as it appears to have two factional leaders and  supporter of Senator Magnus Abe  and Hon Rotimi Amaechi with the former adopting direct primaries as a form of selecting candidates ahead of the 2019 general election and the later adopting indirect primaries. Drawing from the literature and interpreting the evidence, this study examines the terrain, implications and drivers of intra-party conflicts in a democratizing Nigeria with a view to recommending options for resolution. It proceeds from the premise that pervasive intra-party conflicts, which have now assumed crisis dimensions, are not given, but have been nurtured by certain structural factors which have shaped the contours of politics in Nigeria.

 

Chapter one

                                        Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

The political history and constitution of Nigeria have been favourable to the politics of political parties, hence, the formation of political parties and its activities at various times in Nigeria. The existence of political parties in Nigeria dates back to the colonial era and has been sustained since independence. The politics of colonialism and the struggle for political independence gave rise to the formation of various pressure groups, mass movements, and political associations, some of which were transformed to different political parties in demand for political participation by Nigerians in the colonial political activities and ultimate independence. Wapmuk (2014).

Since April 2018 when the battle shifted from mere media quarrel to the courts, judgments in the legal tussle between Rivers state All Progressives Congress, APC, faction loyal to Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and that led by Sen Magnus Abe had often been delivered in some ambiguity.
Such development had allowed conflicting interpretations of the court pronouncements as it suits each party. However when Justice Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt ruled on two of the multiple cases over the internal party crisis in Rivers, the judge gave no room for ambiguity. In his judgement, Omotosho ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to remove all candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers from the 2019 general elections. The judge issued the Mandatory Injunction to INEC following a suit by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, praying the court not to recognize any candidate of the APC in the state, just as he ordered APC not to recognise, sponsor, nominate candidates or canvas for vote for any position in Rivers in respect of the coming general elections. As political organisations, made up of individuals with divergent opinions, values, interests, and also as platforms for recruiting personnel to occupy public offices, political parties cannot but be an arena of conflict arising from mutually exclusive views, thoughts and interests. Indeed, beyond being conveniently tagged, albeit theoretically, as the media for aggregating interests and opinions within a polity (Omotola 2010), political parties’ personalities in liberal democracy are constantly shaped and reshaped by ever-recurring conflicts among the different actors within their folds. Put differently, conflict, in different shapes and dimensions, is part and parcel of the operational architectures of political parties in a liberal democracy. While intra-party conflict the world over may emanate in different forms and sizes, the most debilitating, not only to democracy itself but to the society as a whole, are those arising over the selection of party leadership and candidates. Ideally, political parties are expected to put in place adequate institutional frameworks for mediating conflicts that may occasionally arise among their members (Scarrow 2005). By institutionalizing such frameworks, they do not only engender consensus building within their folds, but also contribute overtly to the stability of the entire system (Simbine 2015). In the words of Omotola (2010), ‘if well-institutionalized, political parties can serve as a set of mediating institutions through which differences in ideas, interests, and perceptions of political problems at a given time can be managed’. The foregoing ideal would appear to have been internalised and institutionalised in mature liberal democracies, where institutions for regulating power contestations within political parties have been entrenched. But in a democratising Nigeria, as in most illiberal democracies, the opposite seems to be applicable (Basiru 2015). Since the country re-democratised itself in 1999, it may not be out of place to assert that political parties’ records in the area of internal conflict management have not been disappointing (Olaniyan 2009; Ojukwu and Olaifa 2011), but in the last few years, the lack of conflict management has resulted in unending intra-party wrangling, ceaseless litigations, wanton party defections, among other antimonies that are rare in liberal climes (see Omilusi 2013; Nwanegbo et al. 2014). Although the problem is not new, but has been manifested during the country’s previous Republics, the dimension of the problem in the Fourth Republic is indeed alarming. This is evident from the acrimonies and crises that trailed the recently concluded primaries of major political parties across the country (Daka and Abuh 2018). During the 2015 general and 2106 re-run elections, the political parties apply different strategies, including mobilisation of their members for participation in the political process, while contesting and struggling for power in the political system in the state. Arising from the mobilisation for participation, both the general elections in 2015 and the 2016 rerun elections witnessed intensive contest and struggle for political power and supremacy between Rotimi Amaechi (former Governor), and Nyeson Wike (incumbent governor), also serving as leaders of APC and PDP interest respectively in the state. During the period, there were mobilisation and counter-mobilisation of citizens by all the political parties for participation in the electoral process.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The crisis dimension that intra-party conflicts have assumed in recent times, it is thus imperative to interrogate the pervasiveness of intra-party conflicts management in democratizing Nigeria. Although there has been a plethora of works on internal democracy within political parties in Nigeria, the sphere of intra-party conflicts and management would seem to have received scant attention. The significance of this article is therefore predicated on deepening the discourse in this area. Primarily, this study examines the party leadership and crisis management in Nigeria with emphasis on River state all progressive congress APC and teases out the implications of its pervasiveness for democratic peace and stability. It is in view of the above that the study becomes pertinent.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to examine the efficacy of party leadership and crisis management in Nigeria, with emphasis on River state; but to aid the completion of the study, the researcher intend to achieve the following specific objective;

1. i) To examine the effect of intra-party crisis on the quality of leaders elected to hold public office in Rivers state
2. ii) To ascertain if there is any relationship between party leadership and crisis management in River state all progressive congress APC

iii) To Examine the impact of party leadership structure in crisis management in Nigeria

1. iv) To proffer suggested solution to the identified problem

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research question were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

1. i) Does intra-party crisis have any effect on the quality of leaders elected to hold public office in Rivers state?
2. ii) Is there any relationship between party leadership and crisis management in River state all progressive congress APC?

 

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: party leadership structure does not have any impact in crisis management in Nigeria

H₁: party leadership structure does have an impact in crisis management in Nigeria

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to the management of River state all progressive congress APC as the study seek to explore possible ways of managing crisis in political parties. The study will also be of importance to the political actors as the study seek to examine possible avenues of ameliorating internal party crisis, the study will also be of great importance to researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the study will serve as a reference point to further studies. Finally the study will also be of great importance to students teachers, academia’s lecturers and the general public as the study will contribute to the pool of existing literature on the subject matter and also contribute to knowledge.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers party leadership and crisis management in Nigeria, with emphasis on rivers state APC from 2015-2019. But in the cause of the study, there were some factors that limit the scope of the study;

1. a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
2. b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher have to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
3. c) FINANCE: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.

 1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

 

Political party

A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology, or who otherwise have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, in an attempt to get them elected and thereby implement the party’s agenda

Crisis

A crisis is any event that is going to lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community, or whole society.

Crisis management

Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders

Party leadership

In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party. The party leader is typically responsible for managing the party’s relationship with the general public

 

1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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