A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr Femi Falana has shared his view on the decision of the Independent National electoral commission,INEC to deregister 74 political parties.
The human right activist and lawyer said the Nigerian constitution empowers the INEC to deregister political parties under certain conditions.
Falana who described the action of the electoral body as constitutional pointed out Section 225A of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (with the First, Second, Third and Fourth Alterations), which empowered INEC to deregister political parties for various reasons.
The SAN explained that the constitution was amended in 2017 to empower INEC to deregister political parties but it was just being implemented now.
Meanwhile, The Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria, IPAC had asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to reverse its decision to de-register 74 political parties.
It said the decision was taken without observing due process and provisions of the law.
The council’s National Legal Adviser, Chukwudi Ezeobika, made its position known in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja.
Ezeobika said IPAC was aware of an action instituted at the Federal High Court by 33 political parties, who are members of the council in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/444/2019, seeking amongst other things, an order restraining INEC from de-registering concerned political parties pending the determination of the suit.
He added that the court, upon hearing the motion for an interlocutory injunction on January 23, 2020, adjourned for ruling on February 17, 2020.
“By the action purportedly taken by INEC, the council is of a firm view that INEC as an institution no longer has regards or respect for the rule of law in Nigeria and has lost the confidence of political parties in the political affairs of the nation.
“The council hereby calls on INEC to immediately reverse the purported decision in order not to infringe on the rights of political parties as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“By the provisions of Sections 221 – 229, no provision is inferior or superior to the other. Section 229 defines a political party to include an association whose activities shall include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election into a local government council.”
He further argued that INEC ought to have been responsible enough to have waited until elections are held in all 774 LGAs and 8,809 electoral wards in Nigeria, after the signing of the 4th Alteration to the Constitution on June 4, 2018, before assuming that a party has not won any elective position.
It would be recalled that Ninety-one political parties participated in the 2019 general elections, with 73 of them fielding presidential candidates.