Politics As Dashed Hopes In Nigeria

Politics as Dashed Hopes in Nigeria reveals the inner workings of the CPC and the intriguing drama that unfolded within its inner caucus, particularly the Octopus-like position of some influential members of The Board of Trustees (BoT) in anointing governorship candidates for the Party in many States.

The author’s grasp and handling of the roles of the dramatis personae in the entire process leading to the formation of the Party, the emergence of the National and State Interim leadership, the struggle for the control of the Party’s machinery in Kano and other States, the fractured and inconclusive primaries and the general elections are quite stimulating and informative. The roles of money and regulatory institutions in the apparent manipulation of the electoral process became quite glaring both before and during the Party’s primaries in Kano and are constant reminders that Nigerian politics had still got a long way to go in the practice of democracy. The near absence of internal democracy within the CPC – just as in several other political parties in Nigeria – greatly hampers the emergence of free-level ground and the thriving of genuine democracy in the country. The idea of the existence of a cult figure in Nigerian politics versus the concept of due process in political party administration is therefore an issue of paramount interest to this book. The politics of the formation of the APC leading to the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his achievements and challenges in the first two years of his administration are also reflected in the narrative.