Participatory Democracy, Local Government Elections and the Politics of the States’ Ruling Parties in Nigeria

In every supposedly democratic state, not only is election a means of determining the will of the people regarding their choice of political leaders, both the process and the outcome of the election should also reflect the consent and aspirations of the people as organized electorates. However, election at the local government level in Nigeria has been relegated to the background whereby its process, conduct, and outcome are often at the mercy of the States’ ruling parties and their governors. This paper interrogates the role of States ruling party in local government elections in Nigeria with particular reference to the 2017 and 2019 local government elections in Ekiti State. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of data collection. Primary data were obtained through a questionnaire and secondary data were obtained from textbooks, related journal articles, and newsprints. The paper adopted elite theory to explain States’ dominance and ‘illegitimate’ control of the local government in Nigeria. It was revealed among others, that local governments elections in Nigeria has always been under the stranglehold of States governors and their political parties who designed and determined the contour of the elections as well as the operations of the electoral umpire. The paper recommends among others, that the scrapping of state independent electoral commissions and its replacement with the national electoral umpire (INEC) nationwide is imperative for deepening democracy, promoting good governance and enhancing development at the grassroots.