Temitayo Odeyemi holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies (2024) from the University of Leeds. His doctoral research examined public engagement repertoires within Nigeria’s national legislature and the Lagos State House of Assembly, exploring how institutional development since democratisation has shaped legislative relationships with external actors and the wider public. The study contributed to wider debates on democratic resilience in newer democracies, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where formal and informal institutional arrangements intersect in complex ways.
Temitayo’s broader research interests lie in the institutional and actor-based foundations of democratic resilience, with a particular focus on how connections between political institutions and citizens influence accountability and participation. He has published on legislatures, political parties, electoral inclusion, underrepresented groups, and policing institutions, with peer-reviewed articles in The Journal of Legislative Studies, Theory and Practice of Legislation, Disability & Society, African Security Review, and the Journal of Public Affairs.
He is also engaged in interdisciplinary and comparative research on climate governance and democratic development. He was a Co-Investigator on a Leeds University Business School multi-country research project examining the role of labour unions in just transitions, where he led the Nigerian case study. Outputs for the case study included a book chapter, policy brief, podcast, and national report. He also served on the research team for the 2022 Global Parliamentary Report (Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNDP) and led an evaluation of public engagement during the drafting of South Africa’s Climate Change Act for the IPU.
Temitayo has held academic appointments and fellowships at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), the University of Leeds, and the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). He currently holds visiting researcher roles at the University of Leeds and the Institute for Parliamentary Studies in Berlin. In addition to his research, he has taught undergraduate and master’s courses in comparative politics, global development, and democratic governance.