The Independent National Electoral
Commission says the growing number of political parties may pose
challenges for the commission in the 2019 general elections.
The Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC
Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, said this in Abuja on Monday at a retreat organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies,
Kuru.
While delivering a keynote address at
the event, which was titled, ‘The Dynamics of Managing Political Parties
Professionally,’ Eyinla said so far, 68 political parties had been
registered.
Eyinla, who represented INEC, said with
over 100 political associations seeking registration, the number might
increase before the elections which could cause logistical problems,
including the production of ballot papers.
The INEC official said if 68 parties
participated in the elections, it could also mean that a total of 68
party agents would be at each polling unit, which could cause the
elections to be rowdy.
“Currently there are 68 registered
political parties in Nigeria. As of today, there are more than100
associations that have applied to INEC to register as political parties.
This raises a number of questions which we want this retreat to
address,” he said.
Eyinla further stated that he did not
know whether INEC would be able to monitor the congresses, conventions
and primaries of all parties contesting over 1,000 elective positions
each across the nation.
He added, “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.
“Already we have envisaged some of these
challenges and we are coming up with strategies to deal with them in
our election project plan.
“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 for 68
political parties?”
Eyinla said if any registered political
party is mistakenly omitted from the ballot paper, it could lead to the
total cancellation of the exercise.
The INEC official said, “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 INEC official called on the National
Assembly to make necessary changes to the electoral legal framework
before July, saying doing so less than six months to the elections would
be in contravention of ECOWAS protocol on democracy.
In his address, however, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the multiplicity of political parties was good for democracy.
Saraki, who was represented by Senator
Abdullahi Sabi, called on political parties to ensure that neglected
groups, including women and persons living with disabilities, were
integrated into party structures.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said there was a need for parties to
have ideologies as this would strengthen democracy and engender good
governance.
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