Political Parties and Governance Outcomes in Orlu Political Zone, Imo State (1999-2019)

Abstract

This paper examined how well the political parties that have governed or ruled Imo State have done in the area of road infrastructure, education and employment, using Orlu political zone as our study area. The objective is to assess the capacity or ability of political parties in Nigeria to occasion good governance through the provision of the dividends of democracy. Four hundred (400) respondents were randomly selected out of one million, eight hundred and ninety-two thousand, five hundred and twenty (1,892,520) eligible registered voters in Orlu political zone. A questionnaire titled Political Parties and Governance Survey Questionnaire (PPGSQ), structured in a likely format was administered for data collection and was complemented with interviews. The data collected was analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and mean. The study was anchored on the Structural Functional Theory. It was revealed that poor road infrastructure, education sector, as well as the rising unemployment was due to poor governance. It was therefore, recommended that parties in power should adopt well thought out policy strategies that will be effectively implemented to guarantee good governance.