INEC Decries Growing Number of Political Parties Ahead of 2019 Elections

INEC Decries Growing Number of Political Parties Ahead of 2019 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission says the growing number of political parties may pose challenges in the 2019 general elections.

According to INEC, a total of 68 political parties have been registered so far, and this does not bode well for the polls.

This was disclosed by the Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, at a retreat organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

While delivering a keynote address at the event titled, ‘The Dynamics of Managing Political Parties Professionally,’ 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, Punch writes.

“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.

“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 further highlighted the problem posed by growing number of parties, saying if any registered political party is mistakenly omitted from the ballot paper, it could lead to the total cancellation of the exercise.

“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.”

He called on the National Assembly to make necessary changes to the electoral legal framework before July, because doing so less than six months to the elections would be in contravention of ECOWAS protocol on democracy.