Legislative Defections and Democratic Accountability: Evaluating Oversight Performance in Nigeria

This paper examined the implications of inter-party defections by the APC and PDP elites in the National Assembly on law making and governance in Nigeria. It has been observed that emerging political coalitions may not always reflect policy preferences or philosophical differences since they are mostly based on personalities and agreement among political leaders. Political parties are widely acknowledged to have a significant impact on the oversight and accountability of governmental operations and policies. Political parties’ refusal to impose such rules stifles efficient public representation at all levels. The survey research method was employed to gather data, while the elite theory was found useful in explaining the study. For the purpose of analysis, the Simple Linear Regression was executed with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for the testing of the hypothesis at 0.5 significance level. The finding of the study revealed that the APC and PDP elites’ inter-party defections in the National Assembly had a substantial influence on the enactment of laws for good governance in Nigeria. Consequently, the study suggested, among others, that political parties in Nigeria should be established on ideologies and not pecuniary benefits and primitive accumulation as it is being witnessed even in the current administration. Besides, being a member of a political party should not be determined by the collection of ticket to vie for elective political office.