There is, indeed, the rising crisis of misgovernance, glaring undemocratic practices, increasing cases of fraudulent elections, clear evidences of poor political representation and apparent signs of general underdevelopment in Nigeria. All these are largely the results of the pervasive and endemic prebendalism in the country. Very worrisome is that prebendalism is ever getting more critical and damaging as it continues to eat deeper into the political fabric of the Nigerian polity. Against this background, the study critically examines the issue of prebendalism in Nigerian politics and governance, and analyzes the implications of prebendalism on the nation’s democratic practice, particularly as it concerns the conduct of democratic elections, effective representation and national development generally. In carrying out the study, information and data were collected through secondary sources like data collection. Consequently, content analysis technique was adopted for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the prebendal intentions that induce fraudulent electoral activities and the actual use of public offices as prebends result in flagrant waste and corruption and hinder the conduct of democratic elections, forestalling effective representation and impeding overall national development. Given the fact that prebendal culture nurtures corrupt instincts and practices and should have no place in modern democratic practice and for which it needs to be drastically controlled, the study recommends, among others, that the entire Nigerian citizenry should be reorientated to a better value system that essentially would entail seeking, occupying and using public offices purely for the interest of the citizens and for effective administration of national development. To effectively realize this, however, there needs to be a conscious and systematic effort by the government to create and preserve the growth of public sentiments and values that are consistent with selfless service, political democracy and overall good governance.

Government belongs to the people and should be for the people and by the people. This is the democratic ideal that is borne out of the innate desire in man for good governance, societal stability and development.¹ To realize this democratic ideal, however, electing people to participate in government should be freely and fairly done to allow the true choice of the electorate to emerge. Very imperative too is that those elected must see the offices that they occupy as positions to be utilized to protect and advance the interests and wellbeing of the generality of the citizens of the polity.² This is very necessary as representative democracy, as opposed to direct democracy, has become the practice in virtually all the democratic societies in the world.³ In essence, two major ways to guarantee that power actually belongs to the people are to ensure that the political representatives emerge from within the parameters of democratic electoral procedure and process, and that those elected use their offices to address the development needs of the citizens and that of the nation at large. This is necessary because, in an ideal democratic setting, political offices are a means to serve humanity and country, and where only the honest and transparent that are elected in a free and fair election can have the opportunity to get into.

International Relations Journal, Prebendalism, Albatross, Democratic Practice, National Development, Manifestations of Prebendalism, Nigerian citizenry, Western University.