The registration of 21 new political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shot up the number of registered parties to 67. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implication of such an unwieldy number of parties on the conduct of next year’s general elections.
THE political landscape is saturated with many parties; though more than 95 per cent of them exist on paper. From three in 1999, the number of parties has risen to 67 after the recent registration of 21 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Today, the number of parties has increased to unimaginable level, such that Nigerians can hardly keep track of the identity of political platforms, what they stand for and those behind them.
The new parties are: the All Blending Party (ABP); the All Grassroots Alliance (AGA); the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN); the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP); the Coalition for Change (C4C); the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP); the Grassroots Development Party of Nigeria (GDPN); the Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP); the Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPN); the Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA); the Modern Democratic Party (MDP); the National Interest Party (NIP); the National Rescue Mission (NRM); and the New Progressive Mission (NPM).
Others are: the New Progressive Movement (NPM); the Nigeria Democratic Congress Party (NDCP); the People’s Alliance for Development and Liberty (PANDEL); the People’s Trust (PT); the Providence People’s Congress (PPC); the Re-build Nigeria Party (RBNP); the Restoration Party of Nigeria (RP); and the Sustainable National Party (SNP).
The parties that contested the 1999 general elections were the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD). With the exception of the PDP, the other two parties have changed identities on several occasions. For instance, the APP later became known as the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), while the AD first changed its name to the Action Congress (AC) and later the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Both ANPP and ACN were among the three major parties that metamorphosed into the All Progressives Congress (APC) prior to the last general elections.
Analysts are worried with the statement credited to the INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu that the commission would continue to register more political parties. He said 80 new associations have applied to the commission, seeking to be registered as political parties ahead of 2019 general elections. His words: “As it stands today, 80 more groups are seeking registration as political parties. We will continue to register them until the time scheduled by the Electoral Act for us to stop.”
It is true the law allows people to form political associations and if they meet INEC’s condition are registered as political parties. But 67 political parties are widely believed to be unwieldy and dangerous for the country’s democracy. A political scientist, Dr Friday Ibok, frowned at the growing number of parties. He advocated for reduction in the number of parties.
Ibok said politicians should harmonise their positions, so that we can have issue-based political parties. The political scientist is of the view that parties ought to separated by their manifestos, because a serious political platform should have its programmes clearly spelt out. He condemned the continuous registration of parties, saying the number is unwieldy.
He said: “Most of them are mushroom parties. I can only remember only five of the whole lot. I am sure many Nigerians don’t recognise these political parties because they lack identity.
“In the Second Republic, we had only five political parties: the National Party of Nigeria (NPN); the Nigeria People’s Party (NPP), the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP). Each of them was known for its programme. For instance, the NPN was known for housing, while the UPN stood for free education. They had their manifestos and issue-based programmes.
“I don’t think we need more political parties now since recent elections have shown that what most of these fringe parties do is to endorse stronger parties in exchange for money during elections. For instance, the founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Dr Fredrick Fasheun, resuscitated the UPN founded by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo during the Second Republic. The calculation was that the party robed in Awolowo’s image would elicit automatic support in the Southwest. The party failed to fly in 2015 general elections when Fasheun announced at the party’s convention few months to the presidential election that it had adopted former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP as its presidential candidate.
“The story is similar with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that also adopted Jonathan as its presidential candidate. The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, the Afenifere, sponsored the formation and registration of the SDP, which proscribed by the General Sani Abacha military junta in 1993. The party was floated by the Afenifere to whittle down the influence of the APC in the Southwest and provide a platform for aggrieved governorship aspirants of other political parties to contest.
Since 2015, the SDP has failed to win a seat at the local, state and federal level. The truth about the formation of the SDP came into open when its National Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, admitted that he collected N10 million from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, to work for Jonathan’s victory in the 2015 presidential election.
Lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Monday Ubani, said INEC cannot be faulted for registering 67 political parties, because the commission is being guided by law. He said the law empowers it to register any political association that meets all requirements for registration as a political party.
Ubani said if the law did not limit the number of political parties, INEC will continue to register more parties. He reasoned that to put a limit on the number of political parties, “we have to look at the provision of law in order to amend it”. He said the new parties, like many of the existing ones, are not viable.
Ubani added: “Though people will argue we are in democracy and people have the right to come together to form political parties, but we must allow sanity to prevail; otherwise before 2019, we would have 100 political parties. To me, it’s better to have two major parties, than having mushroom parties that can’t win a single seat at the local government poll.
“I wonder why many people are still interested in forming parties now that government has stopped funding parties. Most of the parties should merge like the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) that fused to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), which later dislodged the ruling PDP from power.
“The APC defeated the ruling party because of its geographical spread and strength. To reduce the number of political parties, INEC should apply the power granted it by law to de-register parties that failed to win a seat throughout the federation. Parties that fail to abide by the provisions of the Electoral Act should also be de-registered.”
In his own view, civil rights activist, Comrade Mashood Erubami, did not see anything spectacular in the approval granted the 21 new political parties by the INEC. To him, “they are just mere additions, because the sponsors of the parties did not consciously establish them to fill the current visible wide gaps in accountability in governance or they were approved by INEC on the basis of new political philosophy and cherished ideological direction.
Erubami said: “Approving the registration of 21 additional political parties bringing the total number of registered political parties in the country to 67 is though, a democratic move by INEC to ensure the practice of multi-party democracy under a system in which multiple political parties are allowed to stand for national election with the capacity to win and run political offices either individually, under a merger or a coalition, yet it does not make the political parties new.
“However, fulfilling the constitutional provisions on the registration of political parties and bringing INEC powers into conformity with the constitution are not enough. There should be other benefits; the registration of the additional parties should not merely be based on their qualification for registration having fulfilled constitutional requirements but on the strong capacity to build hope for a better future and bringing about new leadership that are courageous, disciplined, compassionate and imbued with character of integrity.
“The only change to the political status quo, however, is in the addition of new names given to the added political parties. Their constitutions and manifestos are not radically different and no new political philosophy and pro-masses ideology could be decipher to underpin the emergence of new parties. Furthermore, the political players are not different either in orientation or character meaning that nothing will change the politics in the foreseeable future.
“What is of great concern is that the increased number of parties will in the long run pose serious problems to INEC on how it would design ballot papers for the 2019 polls to accommodate all the new political parties, given the challenges confronted by INEC in the conduct of Anambra governorship election, where 37 parties participated. Whatever challenges that creep in must be surmounted, including satisfying the yearnings of those stridently calling for independent candidates.”
Secretary-General Arewa Consultative Forum, Mr Anthony Sani is against the registration of new political parties. He said the new parties are not likely to make any impact because most educated Nigerians could not remember the names of the 40 political parties that existed before the new ones.
Sani insists that “there is no need for additional political paries nor for independent candidates who should find accommodation in the existing political parties. I prefer a two party system which would promote unity among religious and ethnic groups for common good.”
A scholar of political science, Dr Edwin Azubike, is opposed to any further increase in the number of political parties, because Nigeria has had enough and most of them lack clear-cut ideologies. He described most of the parties like associations that revolve around individuals who were denied tickets to contest elections or sponsored by government to further divide and weaken the opposition.
Azubike noted that politicians have turned parties into business venture where they invest huge amounts of money. He said: “As entrepreneurs, they expect returns on such investments through contracts and political patronage. Many of the parties knew they can’t win elections; what they do is to work for the stronger parties and negotiate for political appointments after election.
“They don’t register to contest for elective offices, but for the spoils of office. In 2015, only five out of over 40 registered political parties participated actively in the general elections. They were the APC, the PDP, the APGA, the Labour Party and the PPA. Today, only three parties: APC, PDP and APGA seem to be active at the local, state and federal levels.
“In Nigeria people just register parties ahead of elections, so that they can participate. But, after the elections, they go underground till the next election cycle. In advanced democracy, political parties are not busy or visible during elections alone; they work hard all the year round to remain relevant. That is why most of the smaller parties are not growing. When they come out during election period, people don’t have confidence in them, as they will prefer to deal with the familiar parties.
“All political parties need not to contest for power at the centre. They can start by seeking power at the local or state level. Good programmes and service delivery will make such parties win elections in their immediate environment either at the local or state levels. From there, a regional or state party can become a national party.”
Ubani insists there is no need of having as much as 67 political parties. He said: “We don’t need more than two or three parties, as it obtains in advanced democracy like the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France and even Ghana, our neighbour. We should have two parties; we should not be different.
“Many of the political partied didn’t win legislative seats at the state and national level. What’s the essence of keeping them? It’s high time, INEC started applying sanctions against the political parties that fall short of standards prescribed in the Electoral Act.”
