Politics
Politics Of Parties De-registration
Recently, the Independent National Electoral Commission had de-registered seven out of the registered 63 political parties.
The seven parties were said to have failed to field candidates for various elective positions during the last general elections.
The affected parties are Democratic Alternatives, National Democratic Council, National Action Council, Mass Movement of Nigeria, Nigeria People Congress, Nigeria Elements Progressive Party and the National Unity Party.
Announcing the decision, the chairman of the Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega said although there was a case before, a federal high court on the de-registration of political parties, the affected parties were not parties to the case.
He said the Commission decided to invoke the provisions of section 78 (7) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, section 78 subsection 7 (1) and (ii) said that the commission shall have power to de-register political parties on the following grounds (i) Breach of any of the requirements for registration and (ii) for failure to win presidential or governorship election or a seat in the National or State Assembly election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission is insisting on the effective compliance with these provisions of the Electoral Act, but some political party leaders and politicians had noted that deregistration of political parties is irrelevant for now.
Meanwhile, If INEC opts to act and exercise the statutory powers vested in the commission on the later part of the Electoral Act provision then 56 political parties beside, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Action Congress of Nigeria ((ACN) All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Labour Party (LP) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) will be scrapped.
The INEC’s chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega addressing newsmen recently said INEC was ready to commence the process of de-registration of political parties that failed to win a seat in the April polls.
But Prince Favour Felix Reuben state chairman, Labour Party faulted INEC decision , but advised the commission to focus attention on the process of strengthening democratic tenets in Nigeria rather than deregistering political parties.
Prince Reuben said “INEC should rather strengthen the democratic institutions in order to restore the confidence of Nigerians, and the International community.
Also, a legal practitioner based in Port Harcourt, Theoplilus Oru said INEC should allow the smaller political parties exist along side the major political parties.
Barr Oru said “INEC must improve on the requirements for the registration process by a political party and not to limit the political space by contemplating or intending to deregister some political parties”.
He further stressed that “even in the advance countries smaller political parties exist alongside the major national political parties”.
The legal practitioner added that “the political space must be opened up, broaden to enrich the nation’s political flavour , and participatory democracy by Nigerians”.
John Okarafor, a legal practitioner of Ezra Chambers based in Port Harcourt agreed that some of the existing political parities are only on paper without any evidence of visible offices in most states”
However, he reasoned that the deluge of orders served on the commission by various courts, should not compel Prof Attahiru Jega to pay the small parties in their own corn.
He further said, some political parties existed in name, while some of these so called political parties were formed as extension of family business to collect subvention from INEC without any business of being a political party.
Barr Okarafor supported INEC to deregister or scrap political parties that have failed to make any electoral impact during the April polls.
Looking at the recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) set up in 2007 under the distinguished chairmanship of retired Chief Justice of the Federation Hon Justice Muhammadu Uwais that Section 222 of the 1999 constitution should be amended to add two more conditions to be met by association seeking registration as political parties namely (i) the association must maintain functional and verifiable offices in at least two thirds of the states of the federation. Again, that political party which score below 25 per cent of vote at an election should be denied INEC grant.
Barr Okarafor said most of the political parties have failed to meet up this provision of scoring 25 per cent during election and having national offices in 2/3 of the 36 states and therefore should be deregistered immediately by INEC.
However, to stop INEC from executing the provision of the Electoral Act Section 78 (7) (ii) Hon Emmanuel Rukari, a leader of a registered political party, African Renaissance Party (ARP) had dragged the National Assembly before an Abuja Federal High Court seeking a declaration that the National Assembly went contrary to the provision of Section 40 of the Nation’s constitution by giving powers to INEC to deregister any political party that failed to win seats in either the National or State House of Assembly.
Section 40 of the 1999 constitution as amended states that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular he may form or belong to any political, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests.”
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not derogate from the powers conferred by this constitution on the Independent National Electoral Commission with respect to political parties to which that commission does not accord recognition”.
Furthermore, other plaintiffs in the originating summons of the legal action before the Federal High Court over the power of deregistration of political parties included International Society for Social Justice and Humanity (ISSJH) while the defendants are the Senate, House of Representatives and INEC.
Dr Amuda-Kannike, a Port Harcourt based legal practitioner is the plaintiff’s lawyer. He said: we are asking the Federal High Court to determine whether section 78 (7) (11) of part V of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended should not be declared null and void because it runs contrary to section 40 of the 1999 constitution as amended.
Dr Amuda-Kannike further said: it is the said section 40 of the constitution that provided room for formalities of most political association in Nigeria giving rise to formation of political parties, which include the first plaintiff political party African Renaissance Party (ARP).
Dr Kannike further argued that the introduction of Section 78 (7) (11) into the Electoral Act was a ploy by members of the National Assembly to allow only their parties to participate in the electoral process while others will be excluded.
Other legal practitioners reacting to INEC move to Prone the number of political parties said registration and existence of political parties is a constitutional matter, which an Act of the National Assembly cannot invalidate.
Barr Jas Awanen said: if political parties are to be deregistered then the constitution which provides for the registration of such political parties would have to be amended before the deregistration can be carried out by INEC.
Therefore, it stands to be reasoned that every provision not in conformity with the constitution cannot stand.
Political analyst argued that reducing the number of political parties to either two or three will not only enhance and strengthen the survival of Nigeria’s democratic institutions but ensure meaningful participatory democracy in the country.
Let the court decides before INEC comply with the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
This step many political observers argued would remove the suspicion that there is no under hand dealings in the temple of justice that warned against violation of the rule of law.
Philip – Wuwu Okparaji
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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