Election and Politics of Party Defection in Nigeria: A Clue from Kogi State

Is there ‘true’ multiparty democracy in Nigeria? This is one of the political questions beg for answer among political scholars at various levels of government. The above question points our attention on if there is, also, any strong and credible opposition to sustain true democracy in Kogi State. Existing literature divulges that the concern of party defection is rampant in Nigeria’s democratic system due to some flaws in the country’s democratic process. This notwithstanding, the paper is borne out of the aftermath of the May 4, 2013 Local Government Elections in Kogi State. Our intention is to explain the rationale behind politicians cross carpeting to another political party and why they play ‘politics’ wit h such defection. It is on this premise that the paper maintains that accountability, fair representation, good governance, purpose of democracy and democratic consolidation will be defeated and by no means guaranteed if politics of party defection should continues. The paper argues that there is nothing wrong with party defection but, there is need for perquisite for democratic consolidation, with great emphasis on strong and credible opposition choices. The paper then concludes that political order based on pluralism is needed if value should be added to the process of democratic consolidation in Kogi State and in Nigeria as a whole