POWER SHARING AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The research examined the nexus between the power sharing arrangement and its operational modalities as stipulated in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and political instability in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. It evaluated the relationship between the intergovernmental relations and democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The methodology of the study depended on secondary sourcesof data and the adoption of both descriptive and exploratory methodsto assess the superior-subordinate relationship, rather than a coordinate relationship among the layers of government and the excessive control of the federal government over the operations of the states and local governments. The exploratory method was relied upon to trace the genesis of political instability arising from ethnic rivalries and the agitation for the reformation of the power sharing structure in Nigeria.The study found that the power sharing arrangement was initiated to address the problems of hegemony, marginalization, and domination of the federal government over state and local government to reduce political instability in the Nigerian polity. Despite this, so many abnormalities and challengesrelating to the power sharing structure and political instability have featured prominently in Nigeria’s Federalism in recent times with the insecurity in the nation clearly spiraling out of control. While the research does not reject the idea of a strong power sharing structure in favor of federal government, the study is skeptical about the intention behind the strategy because the political elites in the country see it as a mechanism to hijack political and fiscal power and hold tenaciously to it at the risk of political instability across the country. The study concluded with recommendations that include revisiting the power sharing arrangement as a precursor to stabilizing the Nigeria federalism.