INEC to deregister more political parties – Jega

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, expressed the willingness of the commission to de-register more moribund political parties.

Jega made the statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja, saying the exercise would  be carried out after the determination of all pending electoral cases at election petitions tribunals.

Jega said there were some conditions that must be met for any party to operate as a political party and stressed that  “if you don’t meet them, you become de-registered. The major one is, if you don’t have a seat in either the state or federal constituency, you have automatically become de-registered.”

Jega cited the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, which states that “any political party which contests elections and does not win any electoral seat shall be de-registered.”

“Our constitution allows for a multi-party system but we have the power to de-register parties and we have started. It is a continuous process and we will continue to de-register parties that do not meet requirements for registration.

It would be recalled that in April 2012, INEC de-registered seven political parties, thus scaling the number of registered political parties from 63 to 56.

The affected parties are: Democratic Alternative, National Democratic Council, National Action Council, Masses Movement of Nigeria, Nigerian People’s Congress, Nigerian Element Progressive Party and National Unity Party.