POLITICAL PARTY can be broadly defined as an organized group of like-minded persons or an association of individuals with common political ideologies who come together for the purpose of vying for election in order to win the rein of power in government so that they can put their ideologies into practice.
Political party can also be simply defined as an organized group of people with shared political ideologies seeking to take control of the government through constitutional means.
Examples of political parties in Nigeria during the first Republic (1963 – 66) are
1. NORTHERN PEOPLE’S CONGRESS (NPC)
2. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NIGERIAN AND CAMEROON (NCNC)
3. ACTION GROUP (AG) etc.
Examples of political parties during the second Republic (1979- 83) are
1. GREAT NIGERIA PEOPLE’S PARTY (GNPP)
2. NIGERIAN ADVANCE PARTY (NAP)
3. NATIONAL PARTY OF NIGERIA (NPN)
4. PEOPLE’S REDEMPTION PARTY (PRP)
5. UPN and NIGERIAN PEOPLE’S PARTY (NPP),
Note: NAP was later registered as a political party in 1983 after the 1979 elections.
Political parties in Nigeria during the aborted third republic (1993) are
1. SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDI) and
2. NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION (NRC)
Political parties during the Abacha regime (1993-98) are
1. COMMITTEE FOR NATIONAL CONSENSUS (CNC)
2. DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NIGERIA (DPN)
3. NATIONAL CENTER PARTY OF NIGERIA (NCPN)
4. GRASSROOT DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (GDM)
5. UNITED NIGERIA CONGRESS (UNCP)
Today, Nigeria has about thirty political parties like People’s Democratic Party (POP), AN Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) now APC – All Progressives Congress, Nation& Democratic Party (NOT), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the host of others,