Should INEC deregister non-performing political parties?

Closure is gradually being brought to the 2019 general elections on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission especially with the resumption of collation of the Rivers State governorship and State House of Assembly elections yesterday. However, there is a raging controversy about INEC plan to deregister about 84 out of the existing 91 political parties. The adduced reason is non-performance. Learned silk, Femi Falana, Esq. had called on INEC to wield the big stick with many Nigerians aligning their thoughts with that of the legal luminary.

Not a few people believe that many of the extant political parties are not registered for any altruistic reason but for personal aggrandisement of their promoters. They are believed to be on the ballot in order to “scatter the vote”   as a caller described them on a radio programme in Abuja yesterday.  Don’t blame those who are calling for party deregistration, they never saw the utility value of many of the political parties beyond crowding the ballot paper and confusing the voters. It is believed that the unprecedented 23,000 candidates that contested in the 2019 general election was as a result of the high number of registered political parties. Not a few people are also of the opinion that the high number of spoilt and rejected (invalid) ballot recorded in this year’s general election was as a result of the high number of candidates fielded in the electoral contest.

20 years ago, Nigeria began this Fourth Republic with just three political parties from there the number rose to 30 in 2003, 50 in 2007, 60 in 2011, fell to 28 in 2015 as a result of deregistration exercise that Prof. Attahiru Jega INEC  carried out. With the court pronouncing Section 78 (7)(i) and (ii) as being ultra vires to constitutional provisions, INEC had to restore the licence of some of the already deregistered political parties. That, in summary, was how we arrived at the 91 political parties that contested in 2019 elections.

Does INEC have the legal backing to deregister political parties? Let’s take a cursory look at the statutes books. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), Fourth Alteration, No 9 Act, 2017, signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, June 8, 2019, which amended Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution, empowers INEC to de-register political parties on grounds of: (b) failure to win at least 25 percent of votes cast in – (i.) one state of the federation in a presidential election; or (ii.) one local government of the state in a governorship election; (c.) failure to win at least – (i.) one ward in the chairmanship election; (ii.) one seat in the National or State House of Assembly election; or (iii.)  one seat in the councillorship election.

Also, Section 78 (7) (i) and (ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) empowers INEC to deregister any political party that: (i.) has breached any of the requirements for registration; and (ii.) has failed to win a seat in the National or State Assembly election.

The counter-argument being canvassed by a section of the opposition political parties is that INEC is not in a position to act on these two aforementioned provisions until all the Local Government elections have been conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission. In my own opinion, I think if INEC choose to exercise its deregistration power immediately after the 2019 elections, the commission will face a lot of lawsuits. That will be good and healthy for the deepening of our democracy.

Even if INEC decides to allow the status quo remains, it will still face a lot of criticisms from the public who are seriously opposed to the continued existence of the fringe political parties. The greater fear people have is that there are over hundred fresh applications from political associations wanting to be formally registered as political parties. It is believed that if no stringent measures are put in place, the country may have over 200 political parties contesting the 2023 general election.

Seriously speaking, the extant rules for registering political parties as stated in Section 222 of the Constitution of Nigeria are too liberal. Imagine, you just need to have the headquarters of your party in the Federal Capital Territory.

As we prepare for 2023, the following are my reform proposals in terms of political party administration in Nigeria. First, there is no need to coerce all political parties to be national. Just like the deregulation exercise in Nigeria’s banking and financial sectors have permitted, INEC should be allowed to license political parties who want to operate at national and sub-national levels including  the six Area Councils of FCT while political parties who wants to operate at Local Government levels should be registered by the respective State Independent Electoral Commissions.

Mere registration of a party should not be sufficient to get the party on the ballot at elections. There must be conditions precedent to getting enlisted on the ballot. Some of these conditions should include a minimum number of registered members across the area of operations; functional offices in at least two-thirds of areas of operations; refundable deposit by contestants. Depending on the post being contested for, candidates should be made to pay refundable deposit which will be paid back to them if they scored a percentage of valid votes cast in such elections.

Much as it is desirable to open up political space for more people to participate in politics, the gross abuse to which many of the current registered political parties are subjecting that right and privilege need to be curtailed. There are serious allegations that many of the political parties and indeed candidates that contested in the just concluded elections did so in order to cut deals. Imagine the scenarios that played out when many of the 73 presidential candidates announced their withdrawal from the race much after the 45 days to election window given for that purpose by Section 35  the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). The withdrawal of these candidates only to endorse the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidates is believed to have been borne out of some pecuniary or selfish motives.

Right now, INEC spends a lot of resources to monitor and regulate the extant 91 political parties. The law makes it mandatory for the commission to monitor party congresses, conventions, primaries, and finances. These are enormous tasks. Unfortunately, many of the political parties do not cooperate with INEC by ensuring the submission of all mandatory reports including annual reports, election expenses reports and election contributors’ reports.