Romanus Ugwu, Abuja, and Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos
Prominent Nigerians and party chieftains have faulted the electoral umpire, saying it had exercised powers it did not have. They argued that INEC acted beyond its powers as guaranteed by the constitution.
Secretary General of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezeugwu, said it was unconstitutional for INEC to de-register political parties.
“You will recall that the commission did that at a time, but the affected parties went to court and got judgment, which declared INEC’s action null and void. I don’t know the kind of country we live in; we keep making the same mistakes all the time. Are we in a Banana Republic that people and institutions will just wake up and do whatever they like?
“How can INEC that is still registering political parties be de-registering others? If the commission wants to de-register political parties for any reason, it should go to the National Assembly to amend the relevant provisions of the constitution on freedom of association and registration of political parties.
“Until the commission does this, it lacks the power to deregister any political party and I am assuring you that the affected parties will go to court to upturn whatever INEC has done.”
Reacting, National Chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr. Yunusa Tanko accused the electoral commission of being hasty and attemting to circumvent justice.
Tanko said there was already an ongoing case instituted by some political parties over moves to deregister them. He asked INEC to reverse its decision and wait for the court to rule on the matter.
He also said the action of the electoral commission was misplaced as over 100 political associations were awaiting registration by INEC to transform to political parties.
“I don’t see any sense in deregistering 74 and then going ahead to register 100. For me it doesn’t make sense.”
Tanko said INEC should rather look into the role monetary politics played in Nigeria and the issues of elected representatives abandoning the platforms on which they were elected.
Also, elder statesman and Second Republic governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, condemned the action of INEC.
“The action of INEC is unfortunate. By virtue of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, INEC cannot deregister a political party it has recognised and registered. If INEC wants to deregister any political party, it should prevail on the National Assembly to amend the constitution to enable it do that. Better still, INEC should remain neutral and allow the electorate to decide the fate of political parties at elections, the voter should have that power, it is the basic principle of democracy,” he said.
Lagos lawyer, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, who is former president of Aka Ikenga also faulted the action of the electoral commission.
He said the de-registration of the political parties is a violation of the constitution.
He noted that the power of INEC on registration of political parties was settled in the matter of Gani Fawehinmi and the National Conscience Party (NCP) vs the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Uwazuruike accused INEC of exploiting the insolvency of many of the political parties deregistered, which he said, lacked the financial muscle to drag it to court.
NCP led by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) in 2002 dragged INEC before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to compel the electoral commission to register the NCP.
Gani and the NCP contended that the action of the INEC was contrary to the 1999 Constitution and was unconstitutional, null and void.
In a landmark judgment in November 2002, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision voided 12 of the 13 guidelines used by INEC to register political parties, describing them as unconstitutional.
However, the Young Progressive Party (YPP) said that it’s survival was basically a dint of hard work deployed during the 2019 general elections.