Keywords: Nigeria, Policy Implementation, Politics, Political Interference, State Capacity.

Abstract

Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria has introduced numerous well-designed public policy initiatives across key sectors, yet implementation outcomes have remained persistently inconsistent with policy objectives. Existing scholarship has largely attributed this gap to administrative inefficiency and resource constraints, while paying insufficient attention to the political dimension that shapes state capacity and policy implementation. This study examines the relationship among political interference, state capacity and public policy implementation in Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative documentary approach, the study draws on scholarly literature, government reports and policy documents to analyse how politics influences implementation outcomes. The findings reveal that persistent political interference weakens state capacity to implement public policies across sectors. The study concludes that the crisis of public policy implementation in Nigeria is fundamentally rooted in weakened state capacity arising from sustained political intrusion into public policy implementation processes. It recommends, inter alia, the strengthening of institutional autonomy and the insulation of implementation agencies from partisan political control as necessary conditions for improving policy outcomes.

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Published: 2026

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