The Transition Programme To Presidential System In Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
Since her independence in October I 1960 one of the political problems faced by Nigeria has been the issue of succession from one democratically elected regime to another.
Up to the present time, there have been four stretches of civilian democratic governance and republics (1963 – 1966, 1979 – 1983, 1993 and 1999 – Present) which were intermittently disrupted by some military, political, economic and social forces in 1966, 1983, and 1993.
Prominent among these forces is a military intrusion and coup d’état which has continually contributed to the breaks in linkages between the civilian governments.
From observation, democratic transition and succession in Nigeria like in most developing countries have been descriptively problematic. This notion makes sense when the term “succession” is viewed from the democratic point of view. Succession1 could be classified into orderly or regular and disorderly or irregular.
The Transition Programme To Presidential System In Nigeria
The Transition Programme To Presidential System In Nigeria This debate on transition and succession looms large on the Nigerian political landscape as it occupies an important place in the country’s political agenda.
Transition to democracy in Nigeria may be viewed partly as a historically inevitable response to the transition from non-democratic military regimes in most cases.
Nigeria has pursued elaborate transitions to democracy which in effect amounted to a gradual political disengagement of the military from governance. However, what is important at the present state of Nigeria polity is sustainable democratic governance that the country deserves. Against this background, this paper articulates the place of military2 institution in democratic transition and succession in Nigeria
The First Republic Crisis, Military Incursion and Transition to Democratic Governance
the Western region based Action Group (AG) political party and the inconsistent census, the Nigeria first republic virtually collapsed.
By 1964, the political competition had become very severe, and two major alliance of all the political parties contested the federal elections of that year. Electoral fraud was so rampant and so prevalent that the elections were meaningless and the results of the elections ending in a stalemate (Arikpo, 1967).
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As Arikpo reported, the events of the 1964 federal elections serious as they were, paled beside those which followed during the Western Region election a year later in 1965 during in which the electorate literally poured gasoline on opponents and set them on fire.
The electorate literally took the laws into its hands and the Police seemed powerless.
Following the events above, Nigerians believed that the military was the only institution in the country that could stop the political chaos and restore political order and stability, as well as public confidence (Ojibo, 1980).
Subsequently, there was a military coup d’état on January 15, 1966, where some prominent Nigeria political leaders, as well as some high ranking military officers, were assassinated.