INEC may deregister 25 more parties

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

BARELY 72 hours after 28 political parties had their names deleted  from the register of  the Independent National Electoral Commission, indications emerged on Sunday  that 24 more political parties might cease to exist  before the 2015 general elections.

The PUNCH learnt that INEC  had  decided  that only 11 political parties  would participate  in the 2015 electoral processes. Sixty-three political parties participated in the 2011 elections.

INEC, last Thursday, had deregistered Pastor Chris Okotie’s Fresh Party; Balarabe Musa’s Peoples Democratic Party; the late Anthony Enahoro’s  National Reformation Party, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite’s  National Advanced Party  and  24 others for not meeting the provisions of Section 7 of the Electoral Act 2011.

The section states, “The commission (INEC) shall have powers to de-register political parties on the following grounds: (i) breach of any of the requirements for registration, and (ii) for failure to win a seat in the National Assembly or state Assembly election.”

Only 11, out of the parties that participated in the 2011 polls, satisfied the requirement of Section 7 of the Electoral Act by winning at least a seat in the National Assembly.

The parties  are the Peoples Democratic Party, Congress for Progressive Change, Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party, Labour Party, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Peoples Party of Nigeria, All Progressive Grand Alliance, Accord Party, Democratic Peoples Party, and KOWA Party.

Apart from the 11, only Chief Chekwas Okorie’s United Progressive Grand Alliance, which was registered two months ago and which has not contested in any general election will be allowed to stay.

Our correspondents learnt at the weekend that INEC would wait for the conclusion of any suit occasioned by the deregistration of the 28 last week before announcing the 25 others to go.

Many of the promoters of the deregistered parties had threatened to contest   INEC’s action in court.

Commenting on  the possibility of the  deregistration of  more parties , the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said, “For as long as the provisions of the law subsist, they will be applied as and whenever deemed necessary by the commission. No consideration will feature outside the provisions of the law as we have them.”

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of one of the parties’ deregistered last week, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has said Nigeria has too many political parties and that the registration of some of them is justified.

Mohammed, who headed the now defunct Peoples’ Salvation Party, said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He said that while the PSP would not contest it’s deregistration in court, it would not hesitate to join others who might see the need to do so.

This, he said, was because the Chairman of the INEC, Prof. Atahiru Jega, did not base the decision to deregister the parties on provisions of the law.

Junaid said, “The parties were simply too many. Jega himself registered a few; it would have been difficult for him not to register them on resumption because the paper work had been done.

“Coming to my party, strictly speaking, I was simply tired with mine anyway because some elements were using the platform to go begging for money.

“I have no intention to challenge the decision in court but if other parties do so we will join them because Jega did not follow the rule of law.

“And without the rule of law, there is no basis for a democracy. My concern is that all of the actions of a body like INEC must be within the law.”