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Civil society groups, legal practitioners and the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) have commended the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for sanitising the electoral process.
The commendation is coming on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling whichever affirmed the deregistration of 74 political parties by the INEC.
Reacting to the Supreme Court judgement,
Mr. Moses Kor, Executive Director, Credible Election Advocates said the INEC led by Mahmood Yakubu has worked to ensure that the electoral process is sanitised.
He said, “With 18 parties now, Nigerians can have a wide choice to express their democratic rights yet it would not be unwieldy unlike when there were 91 political parties. Furthermore with the technological innovations the Commission has made, signs a clear that the 2023 general election will be credible, free and fair.”
Justice Ejembi Eko of the apex court in his ruling earlier on Friday had upturned the judgment of the Court of Appeal and reinstated the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Anwuri Chikere that deregistration of the political parties was proper.
This decision followed arguments canvassed by INEC that it was not granted fair hearing by the Court of Appeal which it alleged raised issues on it own and did not give the Commission a chance to respond thereby denying it the right to fair hearing.
By this decision, Nigeria now officially has 18 political parties. This is the number that survived following the deregistration of the 74 parties.
Speaking at the premises of the Court, Constitutional lawyer, Obed Agu said issue of fair hearing is very fundamental in every matter in court and any trial that denies a party of fair hearing is bound to be upturned on appeal.
According to him, counsel to the political parties ought to have urged the court of Appeal to allow parties address it on the issue raised by the court on its own knowing that a judgment of the Appeal Court on that basis can be upturned.
