Fourth Nigerian Republic

The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999 it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and 1983 and suffers many of the same problems, such as multiple ministries which made policy planning difficult. Nigeria adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999.

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Nigeria
Nigeria portal

Founding (1999)

Following the death of military dictator and de facto ruler of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha in 1998, his successor General Abdulsalami Abubakar initiated the transition which heralded Nigeria's return to democratic rule in 1999. The ban on political activities was lifted, and political prisoners were released from detention facilities. The constitution was styled after the ill-fated Second Republic — which saw the Westminster system of government jettisoned for an American Presidential system. Political parties were formed (People's Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and Alliance for Democracy (AD)), and elections were set for April 1999. In the widely monitored 1999 election, former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo was elected on the PDP platform. On 29 May 1999, Obasanjo was sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In the controversial general election on 21 April 2007, Umaru Yar'Adua of the PDP was elected President.

Following the death of Umaru Yar'Adua on 5 May 2010, Goodluck Jonathan became the third president(Interim) and later won the election the following year which was largely accredited as freer and fairer than all the previous elections of the 4th Republic. Muhammadu Buhari then won the general elections on 28 March 2015 after the PDP rule of sixteen years (1999–2015).

Presidents

Presidents during the Nigerian Fourth Republic
PresidentTermParty
Olusegun Obasanjo29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007PDP
Umaru Yar'Adua29 May 2007 – 5 May 2010PDP
Goodluck Jonathan5 May 2010 – 29 May 2015PDP
Muhammadu Buhari29 May 2015 – presentAPC

Political parties

Major parties

Defunct major opposition

Minor parties

Accord A
Action Alliance AA
Action Democratic Party ADP
Action Peoples Party APP
African Action Congress AAC
African Democratic Congress ADC
All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA
Allied Peoples Movement APM
Boot Party BP
Labour Party LP
National Rescue Movement NRM
New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP
Peoples Redemption Party PRP
Social Democratic Party SDP
Young Progressive Party YPP
Zenith Labour Party ZLP

Constitutional amendments

  • Third Term Agenda

See also

  • Nigerian First Republic (1963–66)
  • Nigerian Second Republic (1979–83)
  • Nigerian Third Republic (1992-93)

Further reading

  • John A. Ayoade, and Adeoye A. Akinsanya, eds. Nigeria's Critical Election, 2011 (Lexington Books; 2012)

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.