ABSTRACT:

Although Political Parties are undoubtedly a key ingredient of building a robust democracy, the character of the parties and their modus operandi have a significant impact on democracy, with Political Parties often having glaring gaps that block the exercise of participatory democracy. Many Political Parties, especially in transitional and semi-authoritarian States, lack internal democracy. They also frequently fall under the control of powerful economic and political elites. It is from this view that the paper discuses political parties and Chief Executives in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic with a focus of PDP (1999 to 2007). The paper argues that, in Nigeria, Chief Executives, particularly at the National level have been having influence over the activities of political parties at the detriment of “descent democracy”. To get out of the malaise, the paper recommends that, the Chief Executives should learn to put aside their personal ego in the interest of the state and that they should aim at good governance. There should be freedom of thought and expression.