Whereas institutions and structures of governance in Nigeria have the features and capacity to function according to democratic processes and norms, their outputs over the years have been far below expectations, hence the persistent cry by people for tangible dividends of democracy from successive governments. This situation is linked to several factors, including corruption and government waste, which have been widely discussed in prior research. This study examines how internal party crises have contributed to the challenges Nigeria has faced in democratic governance. It adopts a qualitative research design involving secondary data sources, which are content analysed. It argues that persistent internal party crises distract ruling political parties from performing their core functions of governance and fulfilling campaign promises, while weakening opposition parties, rendering them incapable of effectively holding the government accountable. The study contributes to the burgeoning literature on party politics in Nigeria by showing why political parties have yielded few democratic dividends despite decades of the country’s uninterrupted democratic experience since 1999.