The Nigerian political party system continues to grapple with recurring internal disputes, often escalating into prolonged litigation, factionalism, and public confusion. These conflicts frequently stem from lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates, illegal candidate substitutions, and abuse of incumbency powers, according to legal analyst Festus Okoye. Despite judicial precedents stating that intra-party disputes are generally not justiciable, litigants often reframe issues to gain court access, contributing to congestion in the judiciary. Many parties fail to use their internal mechanisms to resolve disagreements, leading to expulsions, counter-expulsions, and the formation of rival factions or new parties. Some parties operate with caretaker committees while others have active National Executive Committees, and in certain cases, individuals control multiple parties for strategic interests. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) remains tasked with regulating candidate qualifications, but disputes over party primaries persist, especially where Section 84 of the Electoral Act is not properly followed. In 2019, 807 election petitions were filed, with tribunals ordering re-runs in 30 constituencies—three senatorial, 13 federal, and 14 state constituencies—while 87 results were annulled overall. Okoye advocates for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as a faster, more effective means of settling party conflicts, urging reforms that could include constitutional or legislative amendments to institutionalise such mechanisms.
Festus Okoye points to the failure of political parties to use internal dispute mechanisms while simultaneously calling for legal reforms to enforce them, exposing a contradiction between practice and prescription. If parties already breach their own constitutions on primaries, leadership succession and expulsions, it is unclear how new rules will compel compliance. The 2019 election petitions and 30 re-runs ordered show the system is already strained by party-level chaos, yet no party leader has been held accountable for violating internal processes. Without enforcement of existing rules, ADR risks becoming another unimplemented layer.
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