{"id":45641,"date":"2026-09-16T12:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=45641"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:47:39","slug":"nigeria-traditional-leaders-retain-central-role-as-political-parties-courting-palaces","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nigeria-traditional-leaders-retain-central-role-as-political-parties-courting-palaces\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Nigeria traditional leaders retain central role as political parties courting palaces&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Traditional authorities in Nigeria continue to exert significant influence over regional political dynamics as campaigns gather momentum ahead of upcoming national elections.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the Rise and Shine, Political Scientist and conflict resolution expert Dr David Matsanga pointed out that traditional leadership institutions, including the historic kingdoms of Benin, Oyo, and Ashanti across West Africa, remain pivotal in shaping voter mobilization and electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The comments followed a visit by the ruling All Progressives Congress campaign council, led by Abdul&#8217;aziz Yari, to the palace of the Oba of Benin, Omo N&#8217;Oba N&#8217;Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Eware II, in Benin City, Edo State.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the structural influence of customary rulers in West African governance, Matsanga noted that political parties heavily prioritize royal endorsements to secure community support.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Traditional leaders are very influential in West Africa; they command the respect of the electorate,&#8221; Matsanga stated. &#8220;If you are going to contest in any elections in West Africa, if you don&#8217;t go through the drill, you might not have the people at all. Traditional leaders indeed play a very big role in elections in most states in West Africa where the old kingdoms existed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":45642,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-45641","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Traditional leaders central as Nigerian parties court palaces","published_date":"2026-09-16 12:46:56","news_description":"Traditional leaders central as Nigerian parties court palaces","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45643,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45641\/revisions\/45643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=45641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}