CLO Flays Senate On Party De-Registration Move

The Civil Liberties
Organisation (CLO) in Abuja last Tuesday said the Senate’s move to give INEC the power to de-register parties in the new amendment to the 1999 Constitution negated democracy.
The Executive Director of CLO, Mr Steve Aluko, said in an interview with newsmen that the power to de-register parties should be with the electorate.
He advised that wisdom dictated the need to deepen the practice of democracy and not to legislate against its continuity.
“I, therefore, advise they must legislate based on the purpose to promote and deepen the practice of democracy.
“They must look beyond individual, they must build institutions and they must legislate to defend institutions. “They must also know where we are also coming from.
“Giving INEC the power to de-register, I think it is better for Nigerians to de-register whatever party they want to de-register by not voting for them.
“I think those are the tenets on which we should build on, otherwise we will end up endangering democracy and making it another experience of the past that we must run away from.
He urged the Senate to abide by the 1999 Constitution on freedom of association, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Supreme Court’s judgment on the issue.
Aluko, a delegate at the National Conference, urged the implementation of the Uwais Panel Report on Electoral Reforms, describing it as the best way forward for the country’s electoral process.
“People didn’t believe what came out of Uwais Panel but I can tell you that is the least of what we expect in moving our democratic experience forward in this country.
“So many people are also engaging this process to see the best way to salvage the country.
“If politicians that wrecked this country are talking about salvaging it, it would be out of place for the progressives and people that have fought for this democracy and that believe in the pan-Nigerian project to shy away from this responsibility.
“So some of us have taken this responsibility as a national call and we are also giving our best, mindful of the fact that at the end of everything, we will give account to God and we will give account to the people of Nigeria.
“Moreover, the fears of the 1957 conference still abound. The question of the minority still abounds. The issue of absence of fair play, justice and equity still abound.
“So we see this as an opportunity to constructively engage the process constructively and let’s have this thing right.
The new amendment sought to empower INEC to de-register any political party, which fails to win any seat in elections.