Contemporary Nigerian Politics

In 2015, Nigerias voters cast out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Here, A. Carl LeVan traces the political vulnerability of Africas largest party in the face of elite bargains that facilitated a democratic transition in 1999. These pacts enabled electoral competition but ultimately undermined the partys coherence. LeVan also crucially examines the four critical barriers to Nigerias democratic consolidation: the terrorism of Boko Haram in the northeast, threats of Igbo secession in the southeast, lingering ethnic resentments and rebellions in the Niger Delta, and farmer-pastoralist conflicts. While the PDP unsuccessfully stoked fears about the oppositions ability to stop Boko Harams terrorism, the opposition built a winning electoral coalition on economic growth, anti-corruption, and electoral integrity. Drawing on extensive interviews with a number of politicians and generals and civilians and voters, he argues that electoral accountability is essential but insufficient for resolving the representational, distributional, and cultural components of these challenges.