Party system institutionalization and the 2019 state elections in Nigeria

This article analyses the 2019 state elections in Nigeria with a focus on party system institutionalization. The analysis shows that votes shifted and that voter turnout was higher in the state elections than in the national elections two weeks earlier. This indicates that voters regard the state elections as meaningful and that they assess subnational issues. However, the analysis of the 2019 state elections also shows that democratic norms and practices are weakly institutionalized in the political parties. It is argued that the political parties contribute to making elections in Nigeria disconnected from a majority of the citizens. A focus on subnational elections shows how the political parties are structured around regional strongmen that use the parties to pursue personalistic politics based on patronage rewards. Still, Nigeria’s federal system with attractive subnational positions makes elections competitive and state politics constitute a platform for opposition parties to endure losing national elections.