Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.7, No.7, 2017 96 The Effect of Intra-Party Conflict Management Mechanism on Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic Awofeso, O. PhD Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, Nigeria Obah-Akpowoghaha, N. G. College of Social and Management Sciences, Department of Political Science, Wesley University Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria Ogunmilade, A School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Department of office Technology and Management, Federal Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria Abstract This paper assessed intraparty conflict management mechanisms on democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic with the help of secondary data. It identified the following issues as contending factors in Nigerian formative democracy. Intra-party turbulence arising from imposition of candidates, patron-client politics, lack of frequent party meetings, corruption and so on, have given negative image to Nigerian politicians and the country in general. The few high-ups in the hierarchy determine winners and losers at the expense of their party’s cohesion. The political environment ever since 1999 still is very much in a confused state, thus service to the people is thrown to the winds. It is out of the confusion that some of the politicians were catapulted into office and it is the reason their behaviour is so anathematic since their loyalty is automatically owed to those who engineered their ascent. Therefore any attempt to confront Nigerians on good and practical democracy is derided with the popularly cynical rhetorical question – “na democracy we go chop? confirming the above on the lacklustre attitude that Nigeria is still a contested terrain of conflicting identities even after five decades of independence and a still longer period of being one political entity. Possibly some of Nigerian elites think of themselves primarily as Nigerians and place their Nigerian identity above all other identities. But many more are ambivalent about what their primary identity should be. And even more place their Nigerian identity below their local community, nation or ethnic group. However, the piece concluded that due to lack of clear-cut political platform and distinctive ideology, these and among others have made Nigerian political parties to have a far- lesser conflict management mechanism that are been driven by primordial interests. It therefore recommend an overhaul of the Nigerian legal system, a six regional semi-strong government whereby each regions cultivate her local products, manage her natural resources and give 10% to 15% to the central government for the purpose of coordination and this will go a long way in bridging conflict holistically and making the centre less attractive and strong. All other methods of conflict management will be strengthened and will be achievable through the above recommendation. Keywords: Conflict, Conflict management, Political parties, Intra/inter party conflict Introduction Democratic theorists and policy makers generally concur on the critical role that political parties play in providing a link between their membership and elected representatives. In addition, it is incontrovertible that no contemporary democracy has excelled without political parties (Egwu and Ibrahim, 2014). This notwithstanding, political parties across the globe continue to grapple with institutional and structural challenges with the potential to compromise their legitimacy, effective functioning and eventual survival. These challenges include declining membership, poor institutionalisation, weak internal organisation, serious internal conflicts and inferior electoral performance. There is however a wide gap between the existence of formal organisational structures of political parties and actual democratic practice in Nigeria (Ayoade, 2008; Ikelegbe, 2014). This is generally symptomatic of emerging democracies globally, characterised by a variance between the established formal rules stipulated in party documents and the practical reality in the functioning of political organisations. This among other intervening factors contributes to the persistent lack of cohesion and internal unity, discord and disintegration, diminishing popularity and electoral losses among political parties (Jinadu, 2014). In Nigeria, political parties are characterised by a top-down organisational structure where power and decision making is highly centralised. This leaves little room for deliberative decision making processes involving party membership. This rigid organisational structure is in part inherited from the colonial legacy where colonial administrators and political elites dictated to, and made decisions on behalf of the native populations without consultation (Ibrahim, 2014). Political parties therefore tend to be autocratic or oligarchic in their organisational structures where conformity is preferable to critical debate of issues, and is enforced through