X-Raying Two-Partism in the Nigerian Fourth Republic’s Presidential Elections

Abstract:

One of the features of the Nigerian Fourth Republic that started on May 29, 1999, was the dominance of two-partism in every circle of Presidential election between 1999 and 2019. Two-partism was engrained by the military regime that handed over to the civilian administration at the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, and it was sustained by varieties of factors that include the influence of money politics, a culture of electoral fraud, and the unwillingness of smaller parties to form a coalition. However, two-partism gave way in Nigeria following the 2023 Presidential election when three parties garnered substantial votes. This paper explains the concepts of two-partism based on the prism of the domination of two political parties in an election rather than an explanation that is based on the involvement of just two parties in an election. It relates the concept to the Nigerian Presidential elections that were conducted between 1999 and 2019 and why the trajectory changed in the 2023 election.