Prebendal Politics and Good Governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: A Review

Abstract

Politics in Nigeria, is a daily basis becoming the survival of the fittest, nay do or die affair. It is common knowledge in Nigeria, in recent time, that contesting for an election and winning will require a lot of money and political clout. Most of the time, an aspiring politician will need the help of a well-heeled or well-grounded politician or a money bag to help bankroll its political campaign among others for him to be sure of success in such an endeavor. The implication of this is that, at the end of the day, such a “donor” will always want to call the shot after election , which to all intents and purposes will constitute a cog in the wheel of progress of such a political entity; in terms of provision of infrastructure in particular and dividends of democracy in general.At the end of the day, the occupant of such an office will owe his allegiance to the money bag (god-father) instead of the state. This paper therefore is an interrogation of the practice of prebendal politics on the body politics of the Nigerian state between 1999 and 2015.

Keywords: Prebendalism, Nigeria, Fourth Republic.