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Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The recent admittance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the growing number of registered political parties would pose serious challenge in the management of ballot paper during the 2019 general elections should obviously be a source of concern to all.
As at end of January 2018, the comprehensive list of the 68 political parties legally permitted by the election management body, INEC, to participate in elections include: Accord Party (AP), Action Alliance (AA), All Blending Party (ABP), Advanced Congress Of Democrats (ACD), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Alliance For Democracy (AD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Grassroots Alliance (AGA), All Grand Alliance Party (AGAP), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) and Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP).
Some others are: National Rescue Movement (NRM), National Unity Party (NUP), People’s Alliance for National Development & Liberty (PANDEL), People For Democratic Change (PDC), Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Providence People’s Congress (PPC), Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Peoples Progressive party (PPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP),People’s Trust (PT), Re-build Nigeria Party (RBNP), Restoration Party of Nigeria (RPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Sustainable National Party (SNP), Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), United Democratic Party (UDP), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), United Progressive Party (UPP), Young Democratic Party (YDP) and Young Progressive Party (YPP).
Parties floated based on pecuniary benefits
Lamentably, Daily Sun’s investigations reveal that while only few of these parties are visible and vibrant; many others exist not as platforms or vehicle to change the society but only for material gains that come with it. They exist “only in name, inside the briefcases and homes of the politicians without any form of national outlook,” it was further gathered.
Many of them, from all indications have sustained themselves only by perpetually validating the more vibrant parties. For instance, cases abound of where many of the smaller political parties declare support for one of the dominant parties during elections both at the national and state levels.
Previously, many of the parties existed based on the financial reward INEC gives them as support to prepare for elections.
Until the Act was repealed, INEC usually gave political parties some funds. It was in line with Section 91 (2) of the Electoral Act which provides that 30 per cent of the annual grant to political parties should be shared across board to all registered political parties while 70 per cent is shared among parties that won National Assembly elections in proportion to the number of seats won.
Between 2003 and 2009, INEC released about N3 billion to political parties as subvention. By virtue of this provision, it is financially attractive and rewarding for group of persons to form a political party solely for INEC’s subvention which, in some cases, run into millions of naira annually then.
However, once INEC’s subventions stopped, most of the smaller political parties find it difficult to fund their activities.
INEC’s admittance of the challenges ahead
Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, recently confessed in Abuja at a retreat organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, that the commission got an inkling of the challenges ahead of it in 2019 during the November 18, 2017 Anambra governorship poll.
Eyinla lamented that with over 100 political associations seeking registration, the number of registered parties might exceed the current 68 before the 2019 elections, saying that it could cause problems of logistics for it, especially in the production of ballot papers.
“Currently there are 68 registered political parties in Nigeria. As of today, there are more than 100 associations that have applied to INEC to register as political parties. This raises a number of questions,” he said.
Eyinla further stated that he did not know whether INEC would be able to monitor the congresses, conventions and primaries of all the political parties contesting over 1,000 elective positions across the nation.
While enumerating the threats the growing number of registered parties pose for the commission, he confessed further that “we are also going to be challenged if these 68 political parties and counting continue this way. We are just a commission.
“I cannot begin to imagine even as the technical adviser, how we will divide ourselves to monitor party conventions and primaries of 68 political parties across the length and breadth of this country.
“Ancillary to this is the fact that political party agents will also increase. I can imagine 68 political party agents in a polling unit. I think these are issues that we have to manage; but most importantly, how do we manage the ballot paper for 68 political parties?” he queried rhetorically.
Expressing fears that if any registered political party is mistakenly omitted from the ballot paper, it could lead to the total cancellation of the exercise, Eyinla stressed that “I think perhaps one of the largest ballots that I have seen is that of Afghanistan where the ballot paper is nearly the size of a prayer mat.
“Given our level of literacy, I think that is going to be a major challenge and as we know, the question of exclusion is a major issue in the electoral process. The chairman was literally sleeping and waking with the ballot for Anambra State election to ensure that no party was excluded; to ensure that the names and logo of the parties were correct because any slip could nullify the election. So, I think there is a challenge with managing the ballot that will come with the increasing number of political parties,” the commission admitted.
Parties dismiss INEC’s fears
For the leaderships of the political parties, there is no reason for the electoral body to press any panic button. National chairman of Young Progressive Party (YPP), Comrade Bishop Emmanuel Amakiri told Daily Sun in a telephone chat that 68 political parties are not too large for INEC to manage.
He further argued that if countries like India with over 1000 political parties and Afghanistan don’t encounter challenges, while should INEC raise the alarm with just 68 parties, insisting that his party does not belong to the endorsement categories.
“If INEC claims that anything is wrong with the growing number of political parties, the constitution and the commission should be blamed. However, I don’t see anything wrong with the number we currently have because it is nowhere close to the number of parties in India for instance with over 1000 political parties or Afghanistan.
“The number of parties in Nigeria is not too much for INEC to regulate. As for some parties existing inside the briefcases and homes of their leaders, I will say that there is nothing different between the small parties and the so called big parties. We saw what is happening in the PDP and APC where only few persons dictate what happens in the party.
“I can only speak for my party and I can tell you that YPP is not among the endorsement parties. The party may have existed for just few months but YPP is an ideological based party and will never join the bandwagon of endorsement of any candidate for major elections,” Comrade Amakiri noted.
Dismissing the impression that politicians float parties for pecuniary gains, the YPP chairman however appeal to the commission to revisit the embargo on giving financial support to the political parties.
The challenges of regulations
Although section 78(7) empowers INEC to deregister any political party which fails to win any National or State Assembly seat in a general election, the commission has however failed to act on such criterion.
Addressing the leadership of political parties at their periodic meeting in Abuja, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu expressed disappointment over the failure of 17 political parties to secure offices in Abuja while 18 of them could not constitute a National Executive Committee (NEC).
ºHe lamented that only five parties by the end of 2017, have complied with the statutory submission of election campaign expenses since the end of the 2015 general elections.
The INEC boss, who warned the parties over the worrisome development, said “as I speak with you, the commission has over 100 political associations seeking fresh registration. We want to assure all the associations that the commission will register those that meet the legal requirements.
“But for those that have already been registered, I want to draw your attention to certain issues. The constitution is very clear on the processes and conditions for registration that must be complied with. Section 223 of the constitution, speaks on the validity of the composition of the political party’s NEC, but unfortunately, out of the registered political parties, only 28 parties are in compliance. Many other political parties have not complied.
“Section 222 of the constitution requires political parties to establish offices in the FCT, but as we speak, only 29 political parties are in compliance while others have not. So, we have many political parties that either have no offices in FCT or their rents have expired which amount to the same thing as not having office in FCT,” he lamented.
On the failure of many parties to submit their 2015 general elections expenses to the commission, Prof. Yakubu said “Parties are expected to submit to the commission their election campaign expenses for the 2015 general elections but as we speak only five political parties are in compliance.
“While other political parties did not comply, the case of others is understandable because they were registered after the general elections. But for parties that contested the general elections, only five complied,” he said.
He was also quick to add that “I wish to remind all political parties that the law also provides for de-registration of parties. We shall vigorously apply this aspect of the law as the need arises.”
