Some lawyers, yesterday, disagreed over deregistration of 74 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

While some of the lawyers lauded INEC over its decision, others faulted the action, saying it is unconstitutional.

In a chat with New Telegraph on the issue, those who backed the action, called for a further reduction in the number of political parties in the country before the next general election in 2023.

Deregistration of the parties, according to the chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is part of preparations for the 2023 general election. With the exercise, the country now has 18 political parties.

Speaking on the issue, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ahamba, lauded INEC for taking the action, saying many of the parties ought not have been registered in the first place.

He said: “I think it’s a step in the right direction. But, the electoral body needs to explain to Nigerians how these parties qualified to be registered as political parties in the first place.

“Considering the very stringent rules about registration of political parties, most of these political parties did not meet up with the standard.

“I know of a registered political party, which has only a man and his wife as the National Chairman and Secretary, respectively. Everything about the political party did not go beyond their residence and there are many like that.

“A political party is by law expected to have offices in at least two-third of the 36 states of the federation. How many of them meet up with this provision? Let any party that is dissatisfied with this action come out, say it and prove that it is a political party. So, I commend INEC for this decision and I urge it not to register any party that falls below the standard in the future.”

Another silk, Dr. Biodun Layonu, also commended INEC for the action. He noted that the constitutional guaranteed freedom of association has been abused by many people, who floated political parties for selfish reasons.

“Litigation galore first; some will challenge it. But I think it is good as many of these parties are used only at election time to provide a platform for some people to run, especially defectors.

“A serious party should be active at all times and to heighten its activities at election time. The freedom of association that provides the opportunity to form political parties are in many instances abused. It is right to sanitize and clean up the political space. The serious ones will survive,” he said.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Gabriel Uduafi, also threw his weight behind the reduction in the number of political parties in the country. He said that political parties ought not to be more than five in an ideal situation.

He said: “I support INEC’s action. I don’t think that for us to have a perfect democracy, we need more than five political parties. I want to recommend that more parties should still be deregistered because the 18 that were left is still on the high side. Let’s trim them to as few as possible.

“It’s very sad that people are registering political parties because of the money they will get from INEC. Somebody who cannot win election as a councilor will float a political party and say he wants to contest for the office president. All these things must be stopped. I want to propose that before the next general election, it would be okay for us not to have more than five political parties.”

A right activist, Chris Ekemezie, also noted that having 92 political parties is not an ideal situation for the country and lauded INEC for the reduction.

“There was no need for INEC to have registered more than four political parties in the first place. There is no ideological difference between all the political parties. Multiple parties have become a conduit waste pipe. It would serve us better if we have just three or four political parties and cross carpeting should attract some sanctions.” he said.

An Abuja based lawyer, Dr. Segun Adeoti, said INEC, besides having the constitutional power to deregister any political party, is in order with what it has done, noting that the action will save a lot of funds for the country.

His words: “The position of the law changed when the constitution, through the Fourth Alteration, No. 9 Act, 2017, enacted in 2017 was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The said assent by the President conferred on INEC the power to deregister political parties by amending Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution.

“By the said amendment and introduction of Section 225(A), INEC can now deregister political parties on grounds of breach of any requirements for registration.”

Adeoti listed these requirements to include failure to win at least 25 per cent of votes cast in one state of the federation in a presidential election, or one local government of the state in a governorship election.

Others are failure to win at least one ward in chairmanship election, one seat in the National or State House of Assembly election or one seat in the councillorship election.

He further said: “Though I have not seen the list of the parties that were de-registered, I am very sure they will fall under the category, which the amended constitution provides for.

“This will save Nigeria from spending fortune on the 2023 elections. We are all aware that several of the parties are only springing up based on selfish interest of some certain individuals. So, for me, I do not see the need for a political party to be in existence by only occupying a space on the ballot paper and nothing more.”

Another lawyer, Daniel Osuagwu, who commended INEC for taking what he described as the bold step, said the number of existing parties in the country makes mockery of the democratic system.

“For me, I think it is a good step as sanctity would be brought to the polity,” he said.

Meanwhile, some other lawyers criticised INEC for the action. According to them, the commission’s decision to deregister the 74 political parties contravenes provisions of the Nigerian constitution.

Another Abuja based lawyer and rights activist, Edem Emordi, stated that electoral body’s action was contrary to the provisions of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees every citizen of Nigeria, a right to peaceful assembly and association.

“The right and freedom to assembly and association as guaranteed by the constitution, allows every Nigerian citizen to associate, and this association include the establishment and membership of political parties in the country,” he said.

Another lawyer, Ayia Akpoteheri, who also disagreed with the action of INEC, stated that every politician in the country has a right to contest any political position under any platform “because he or she has the freedom to associate.”

Akpoteheri said whether a political party emerges as winner for any political position in Nigeria or not, should have no bearing with the functions of INEC, which has the primary duty to conduct elections.

“I think these political parties have an undiluted right to come under whatever platform they deem fit in engaging in political activities in the country. To now say they are deregistered for whatever reason is to me, over stretching of INEC’s powers and functions,” he said.

He maintained that the major concern of INEC should be to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections and not to measure successes of political parties.

A Law lecturer, Dr. Sheriff Abdul Malik, in his reaction, said although the Electoral Act gave wide powers to the electoral commission in handling political parties in the country, the Act was is still subject to the constitution, which serves as the norm in Nigeria.

Abdul Malik said it is always better to allow maximum number of political parties in a country to make room for competition for political positions.

He added that where there were restrictions on the number of parties, it will create monopolistic situations, where leadership would be reserved for a certain political class.

He also described INEC’s action as a contravention of the constitution and stressed that individuals have a right to freedom of association.