The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it cannot stop Nigerians from exercising their constitutional rights and would continue to register political parties as long as they meet the stipulated requirements.
The Head, Election and Party Monitoring Department (EPM), INEC, Mr. Aminu Idris, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, at a “Policy roundtable on modalities for measuring political parties’ performance in Nigeria” organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) with support from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office United Kingdom.
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Daily Trust reports that INEC had on February 6, 2020, de-registered 74 political parties for failing to win any political office in the last general election.
Some of the parties had, however, approached the court to challenge their de-registration by INEC, with the case currently at the Supreme Court for final adjudication.
Asked if INEC would still consider the applications from some of the associations, which might be seeking to re-register as political parties or file for fresh registration, Idris who was represented by Mr. Shehu Wahab, said the commission will continue to register any association that meets the criteria.
“INEC still operates and will continue to operate by the law. If the laws allow parties to be formed, INEC will not stop the process of party registration. I think the task for us is that we still register parties based on their ability to meet the requirement for registration,” he said.
