- Say new body can’t guarantee transparent polls
- Electoral umpire not overburdened, make it truly independent – Politicians
- ‘Creation of separate body waste of public funds, Reps should reject bill’
Some political parties in Nigeria have kicked against the move by the National Assembly to establish an independent authority for the registration and regulation of political parties, describing it as mere duplication of duties and waste of public funds.
On the contrary, other party leaders believed that the Independent National Electoral Commission was overburdened and needed to be unbundled to allow for credibility and seamlessness in the electoral process.
Some legal practitioners, civil society organisations, politicians and election monitoring groups advised that the existing electoral umpire should be strengthened to be able to regulate political parties better, stating that in a situation whereby the bill scales through, the new body that would be saddled with the responsibility of registering and regulating political parties should be truly independent and out of the purview of the President.
Recall that the bill sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and a lawmaker from Edo State, Marcus Onobun, recently scaled second reading at the Green Chamber.
The proposed legislation aims to remove political party registration and regulation from the jurisdiction of INEC and transfer them to a new agency.
Under the proposed law, a new body, Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, would be created to oversee political party registration, monitor funding, and enforce regulations.
The proposed legislation intends to also establish a political party disputes tribunal to resolve conflicts among members.
Asked by THE POINT in separate interviews whether the proposed legislation will ensure transparency in the electoral process, make Nigerians elect credible leaders and experience good governance, politicians, lawyers and civil activists expressed divergent views.
For the Publicity Secretary of the Ondo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, Kennedy Peretei, INEC as presently constituted is not the reason why political parties seem not to have ideology and have been wallowing in existential crisis.
Peretei argued that the creation of new laws or separate agencies to handle political party activities would not make Nigeria to have credible elections or leaders of impeccable integrity, noting that the high time the country embarked on national orientation of its citizens, especially youths about change of attitudes and need to demand for and work towards good governance, the better for the nation.
“We have corrupted all institutions. So, to make us have credible elections and good governance is not by new laws, it is by new orientation. The laws we have are enough, let us perfect what is imperfect in the present ones, then we can move on. For example, if only INEC can be independent and conduct free and fair elections, so that only those who deserve to win will win. Even if it is money that they use to buy the votes, a time will come that they won’t be able to procure people with the money because they would have known that this man bought us the last time and this time around, we won’t allow you to buy us again. If only what they can achieve is to make INEC truly independent, it will be more than all these things they are talking about,” he said.
Sharing similar views, the Director of Publicity and Media of the PDP in Osun State, Oladele Bamiji, hinted that there is no burden in registration of political parties and that in the case whereby the proposed law becomes inevitable, the essence of establishing it would have been defeated if recruitment of its officials is done by the presidency.
Bamiji strongly canvassed for the strengthening of INEC identifying lack of sincerity of purpose by the political class and the led as bane of the nation’s political and socio-economic development.
“I don’t see any burden in registration of political parties. For me, the task is not that enormous, it is just about verifying particulars or claims of potential or would-be political parties who come forward to INEC for registration. I am not sure there is any kind of burden there but I agree that whatever we can do to enhance our political system or jurisprudence, there is no problem about it.
“I don’t have the details of the bill yet, if it is something that we will now be reporting directly or they put under the presidency, then, we might even be heading to a worst situation or worst scenario that we have. That means any ruling party at any particular time will now be the ones to look at which party to register and roll out sanctions or punishment arbitrarily, so that it will not become a fry pan to fire situation and becomes a problem for us.
“For me, if there is any burden at all, I think INEC should just be strengthened in whatever ways to be able to cope with the task of registering political parties. But, I am not sure there is any burden in that. Unless we want to make it burdensome, whatever we do, it is just a matter of being sincere as Nigerians, having the interest of the general populace at heart. That is the most important thing and not just to split this and split that and at the end of the day, it becomes more worrisome for the country.
“If such a proposed body or commission will now be reporting to maybe the Attorney General of the Federation who is an appointee of the President, because I am not sure such bodies will be able to operate independently without interference from the ruling political class, then it is not needed. INEC should continue with their jobs as far as I am concerned. If anything, it should rather be strengthened if it is in terms of personnel, funding, or whatever laws or regulations or Acts or any other ways we can use to strengthen its activities; it is better than creating another problem. Most of these things we do in Nigeria are willfully or deliberately creating unnecessary problems for ourselves,” the politician said.
In the same vein, civil society groups and election monitoring platforms under the umbrella of Network of Non-Governmental Organisations, opined that there is no need for another agency for the registration of political parties, saying it would be tantamount to waste of public funds.
The President of NETNOS in Osun State, Michael Ebofin, said, “In my opinion, I do not see the need for another agency to handle the responsibilities of INEC at this period in Nigeria. It will be a waste of public funds to establish an independent authority for the registration and regulation of political parties in Nigeria. The planned removal of political party registration and regulation from the jurisdiction of the Independent National Electoral Commission is mere duplication of responsibilities and waste of public funds.”
Ebofin suggested that the existing political party disputes and electoral tribunal courts should be strengthened and that “the proposed legislation should be stopped.”
“The move cannot ensure credible elections, but cause set-backs for the electoral process. Election integrity depends on a free, fair, inclusive, impartial and transparent process. INEC is not overwhelmed with the task, but it should be properly funded in order to perform better.
“We do not need a different authority that will be responsible for the registration and regulation of political parties’ activities at this period in Nigeria,” the activist maintained.
One of the lawyers who weighed in on the issue, Umar Imam, agreed that election integrity depends on a free, fair, impartial and transparent process for registering political parties and for conducting elections, but noted that the agency that would see to the regulation of the party must be truly and fully independent.
The legal icon explained that the proposed agency wouldn’t have been necessary if there is good faith among Nigerians and the political class especially.
He said, “In any case, the court says that you cannot put something on nothing, and expect it to stand, it will irretrievably collapse. Our number one problem in this country is lack of good faith. So, whether we all agree to let the power or that duty they saddled on the INEC or an independent body that is established for that purpose, what is lacking in our system is good faith and once that is lacking, we will continue to remain stagnant.”
Imam, the National Vice President (Administration), Academy of Islamic Propagation, recommended that the person to head the proposed agency should be a retired judge or justice and that the members of the body should be people of impeccable character who are apolitical.
“So, as marvelous as the proposed bill is, the problem is who are going to be the members of the proposed body and what about their credibility and integrity which has always been the problem? So, if the result is going to be the same, I think it is better we allow it to reside in INEC continually. But, if we know we are going to put people of repute, integrity and those that will not compromise, because once we put core politicians there, then their failure starts from the very first day they are inaugurated. We can’t allow politicians to continue their way. We have to stop it one way or the other and some day.
“I will suggest that whoever will be the head of the proposed body (Office of the Registrar of Political Parties) should be a retired judge or a Justice, whether of the High Court or the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. We should screen the members because once the head is healthy and the remaining part of the body is rotten, the remaining part of the body will definitely affect the head because the remaining part of the body will continue to compromise. And the same thing is where the head is rotten; definitely, the other part of the body will rot. And autonomy is equally very important and if there is going to be such a body, then it should be autonomous and be allowed to operate independently.
“INEC is no doubt under the presidency and we all know what that is. But my primary concern is who will constitute the membership of this proposed body?
“I believe INEC is overburdened and if this role of registration of political parties is removed, Nigerians can expect credible elections but that is if the proposed body is neutrally constituted. We should be particular about who heads it. You can see how Ribadu performed when he was appointed the EFCC chairman. We also remember Farida Waziri, whether they were being used or not is another thing. What is most important is that they were able to impress Nigerians at their earlier stages. But, it is sad that those that want good for Nigeria are just minute, while we have spoilers in every nook and cranny of the country and in every sector. That is just our problem but once this proposed body is given autonomy, we should be able to know who to challenge if anything happens negatively,” the academic pointed out.
For the Labour Party, “Nigeria even needs an Electoral Offences Commission apart from overhauling INEC. What INEC is doing is enormous, so they should leave INEC with only conducting elections and a separate body for registration of political parties so that we can have a credible election. So, I support the bill for the establishment of an independent body to register political parties.
“INEC is not only overburdened, it has not been performing up to its expectations in terms of conducting elections. By now, INEC should have updated its register. Some have already clocked 18 years and without voter’s cards. If care is not taken, many Nigerians may be disenfranchised if the voter registration exercise is delayed further. I believe the bill if eventually passed into law will reduce electoral malpractice and make INEC more committed and focused with election management,” the LP chairman in Osun State, Bello Adebayo, averred.
The Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council, Victor Akande, advocated for further unbundling of INEC, saying “Some responsibilities should be taken away from INEC because they are being loaded with so many responsibilities.”
Akande added, “Most of the time, the funds are not there to execute their responsibilities. For instance, when it comes to their ad-hoc staffing during elections, you cannot believe that it is the same money they have been paying the ad-hoc staff since 2005 that they are paying up till now, that has not been reviewed. So, I believe INEC should be unbundled and some responsibilities should be given to other bodies that will be created. Let there be another body that will focus on registering political parties so that the load on INEC can be removed so that they can fully concentrate on conducting and monitoring elections.”
Lamenting lack of ideology among political parties in Nigeria, Akande who doubles as the Osun State chairman of Accord Party, expressed confidence that Nigerians will experience credible elections and good governance if the commission is relieved from the role of registering political parties.
“The problem we have is not having political parties but the problem is that there is no ideology. We don’t know what APC stands for; you cannot know what PDP stands for. That is why you see increasing cross-carpeting. Unlike in the olden days during the time of our Papa Awolowo, we knew what they stood for. When you voted AD, you were voting for free education from primary to university level. So, we know their ideology. There are no clear distinctions of one party ideology or the other. That is why everyone will come and be making the same campaigns all the time. The same promises always,” Akande said.
A current affairs analyst, Nuru Wanbai, told THE POINT that he has reservations about the legislation that seeks to establish the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
Wanbai also said that the office would create unnecessary bureaucracy, something Nigerians don’t want at this point in their democratic experience and the electoral process.
“I have reservations about this proposed Office of the Registrar of Political Parties. According to the lawmakers who are sponsoring the bill, there will be an independent office or authority that will be responsible for the registration and regulation of political parties in Nigeria.
“But the big question is: Do we really need such an agency now? Well, I don’t think so. We don’t need one, at least not now. And as strange as it may sound, the agency could even create unnecessary bureaucracy.
“There will likely be bureaucracy in one shape, form or size. We don’t want that now for the electoral process in Nigeria.
“We shouldn’t be creating new offices or government agencies just because we think it’s convenient to do so. Why not equip the agencies and offices already handling similar functions?”
Wanbai also said that Nigeria should take its cue from the United States of America who are cutting down the size of their agencies and not establishing unwanted new ones.
“Nigeria should learn from the United States of America. They are cutting down the size of employees in federal agencies. They are also scraping offices that are not useful or that are wasteful.
“Nigerians following politics in America will absolutely see what the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is doing with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in America.
“Musk is saving the American people a lot of money but right here in Nigeria, we are looking for ways to spend more money on new, unnecessary federal workers that will be recruited into the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.”
Wanbai also said that INEC is doing a good job with party registration and regulation.
In his assessment, the commission should be commended.
Wanbai said, “As far as I am concerned, INEC should be commended for handling political parties’ registration and regulation so well.
“Since the commission started doing it, some political parties have come and gone. But there has not been any major controversy about INEC’s work with those parties’ existence.
“So, why transfer this responsibility to a new agency when INEC is not complaining of too much wor?
“And mind you, the proposed legislation will not ensure transparency in the electoral process. How many legislations in Nigeria have done so before?
“Politicians will always find a way to circumvent the legislation if it is finally signed into law.
“I am, therefore, amazed that some people even think that such legislation will make Nigerians elect credible leaders and experience good governance.
“The only thing that will make Nigerians elect credible leaders and experience good governance that have escaped us is to have our consciences washed with soap and water.
“I think that Nigerians should love their country and be willing to sacrifice anything for it. If we are always waiting for legislation before we do the right thing in this country, we will not go far.”
