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INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Research Proposal · December 2019

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 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Ideology been a controversial concept is said to be a very crucial aspect of politics, not only
as a cognitive structure of looking at the society generally and providing a perspective formula, it
also serves as a guide to action and judgment (Dosumu, 2015). Ideology is also a powerful
instrument/tool of conflict management and self-identification. In other words, ideology is the
engine room of any political party. The success of any political party is determined by the degree
of its political ideology especially in advanced democracy. The issue of ideology has been so
central to the activities of political party across time and space that it has been regarded as the
most durable convictions held in common by party members in respect to the most desirable
form, institutions, spirit and course of action of the state determines the natural attitude of a party
towards every public question. (Iyare; 2003:12) Instead of ideological identification, Nigerian
political parties have been found to mobilize and associate on ethno-religious basis, which has
had serious debilitating effect on the polity. Ethnicity and religion have acquired divisive
character in Nigeria and have been largely unhelpful in the quest for democratic consolidation in
Nigeria. (Dosunmu, 2015:5) , lack of political ideology by parties plying the Nigeria political
routes have denied the country serious gratifications which can help in the development of her
democratic infrastructure and consolidation. Political ideology helps people to make persuasive
arguments convincingly to enlist popular support for a given public policy (Omotola,2009:617),
ideology is an indispensable element of politics, it does not only serve as a major instrument of
convincing the electorates ,playing major role in the acquisition, but also functions as political
lifeline for the animation of politics. Nigeria journey to civic culture which is the fastest route to
democratic consolidation has been lengthened rather unnecessary by non-ideological political
space. Ideology enriches the content of politics and as such help in the development of discursive
democracy.

The availability of manifestoes by political parties means that electorate can take parties on
national issues and would help determine their choice of party to vote for in elections, parties and
their manifestoes need to espouse the ideology on which they plan to run government in order to
give the electorate a clear picture of where the country is heading and decide whether or not to
work in that direction (Okosisi-Simbine, 2005),lack of manifestoes and culture of debate in a
democracy is slow poison that would kill the system in due course, manifestoes provide the
yardstick for measuring the performance of political parties and help election to fulfill its reward
mandate. The issue of party ideology surfaced in the 2015 General Election which makes it
different from previous election in the Fourth Republic it was conducted in an atmosphere of
intense fear, insecurity, political alliance and re-alliance while the campaign was dominated by
great issues of national concern such as insecurity, corruption, unemployment and poverty as
observed by many scholars. The 2015 General election was labeled an historic election based on
the fact that an incumbent power under the party PEOPLE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) was
defeated after political parties with different ideologies form a coalition party with the name
ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS (APC). The issue of party ideology and political manifestoes
played a key role in the ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS (APC) victory, the ALL
PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS rode on the CHANGE mantra in selling their ideologies to
Nigerians t o get their support during the election, which eventually made them, emerged as the
winner of the 2015 General Election.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

In an ideal democratic environment and saner climes with strong political parties’ campaign,
culture and rhetoric ought to be issued base. They are devoid of personal and religious attacks.
The regulators of the political process keep an eye on the aspirants and sanction individuals who
violate the minimum standard of political behavior. This may not be the situation in Nigeria
political environment. The nature of political parties constitutes also constitutes a problem in the
conduct of the election in the fourth republic with the parties devoid of ideology or any
democratic principles except capturing of power for personal gain at all cost (Auwal 2015). The
2015 General Election was marred with excessive spending which discredit the electoral process
and led to corrupt practices in the procedure because politicians engaged in bribing of electoral
officials, security agents and vote-buying as well as the money bag godfathers who sponsored
their godson that are not competent which led to the emergence of unqualified and poor
leadership as well as mis-governance.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Against this backdrop, this study attempts to provide answers to the following questions:
i. To what extent has party ideology affected the 2015 General Election?
 ii. Is there a link between party ideology and the 2015 General Election?
iii. What role did party ideology play in the 2015 General Election?
1.4 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The primary aim of this study is to investigate Party Ideology and the 2015 General
Election. The specific objectives are as follows:
i. To know the extent at which party ideology has affected the 2015 General Election
ii. To ascertain the link between party ideology and the 2015 General Election
iii. To know the role party ideology played in the 2015 General Election.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Although, there might have been a lot of works written on the party ideology and general
elections campaign in Nigeria but few have touched the importance of election campaigns. It
is hoped that this work will be of immense help and guide the youths of today in state in
particular and Nigeria as a whole that there is a great need to revive our various political
parties, for this will be of a great help in various stages of development in political parties.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study adopted qualitative method of data collection was adopted in this study. In
view this; data were generated from secondary source materials. Qualitative research
emphasizes words, rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data.
Furthermore, it predominantly emphasizes a deductive approach to the relationship between
theory and research; in which the emphasis is placed on capturing inferences from a general
field into particular situations. Also, qualitative research entails a perspective of social
concepts as an increasingly shifting sphere based on individual contributions. Data were
sourced through relevant text materials and historical documents. These includes: texts,
journals, online articles, Magazines, Archives and the likes.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is limited due to the epileptic power supply in the country, financial
and time constraints and uncomfortability of the network provider in assessing enough
information’s online.
 REFERENCES

Dosumun,A. (2015) Political parties and party system in Nigeria. Conference Organised by
Dosunmu Mandate,Lagos

Iyare,T.(2004) “An Overview of Political Parties” , in Odion-Akhine,S (ed) Governance:

Nigeria and the World, Lagos: Centre For Constitutionalism and Demilitarization.
(CENCOD).

Okosisi-Simbine,T. (2005) Political Vagrancy and Democracy in Nigeria. Monograph Series

No.11, NISER, Ibadan.

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