A Lagos lawmaker, Mr. Victor Akande, on Thursday urged the 9th National Assembly to commence work early on constitutional amendment and Electoral Act reforms to deepen the nation’s democracy.
Akande, a two-term member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ojo Constituency I, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, it is high time the federal legislature give the nation an electoral law that will address challenges facing elections and reduce the number of political parties.
“NASS should know what is right and start working on the Electoral Act cum Constitution. Let them look at it and start now because we know that the process of amending written and rigid constitution is cumbersome.
“So, the earlier the better. In the next six months or one year, significant progress should have been made by the National Assembly on electoral reforms and amendment to some anachronistic and outdated laws that do not meet current realities.
READ ALSO: UPDATED:Court orders Ganduje, Emir Sanusi to maintain status quo
“There is a lacuna in the constitution and in the Electoral Act. The power should come from the constitution to specify the number of political parties the nation should adopt.
“If we want to be a two-party state, let us be a two-party state; if we want to be a three-party state, let us be a three-party state.
“Having a many parties is a problem for the country. It has created a lot of confusion.
“I would have loved us to go back to the days when we had just five political parties. If at all we need up to five, five should be the maximum. The constitution and the electoral act should state this categorically,” Akande said.
The lawmaker expressed the hope that the nation would get it right gradually with various amendments to the constitution and electoral laws.
“We must correct all these anomalies now that we have ample time before next elections.
“The Eighth National Assembly has done well and tried its best on electoral Act amendment. This should continue until we get it right and and receive the President assent,” he added.
On INEC’s proposal for de-registration of dormant parties, Akande said that the constitution was clear about registration of political parties but did not envisage dormancy of some parties.
READ ALSO: Sanwo-Olu assures of support as 2,568 corps members begin orientation in Lagos
The legal practitioner said the electoral Act had addressed the situation and gave conditions for de-registration of political parties.
According to him, Section 78 subsection 7 (1 and 2) of the Electoral Act states that “the Commission shall have the power to de-register political parties on the following grounds:
“Breach of any of the requirements for registration and for failure to win at least a seat in the National Assembly or any state assembly.”
He said that most political parties did not worth being called political parties, hence the need for the commission to be more empowered to de-register parties that failed to meet requirements of winning at least a seat in the parliament.
Akande added that few more political parties should be left apart from two major ones for candidates who might want to test their popularity through such parties when they failed to get ticket of dominant parties.
According of him, there are some electoral issues that must be addressed before 2023 general elections, saying that a situation when over 90 political parties and over 70 presidential candidates participate in an election did not show seriousness.
He said that the long list of parties on ballot papers created confusions and encourage huge void votes, noting that such could be checkmated by having a concise number of political parties.
Akande said: “How can INEC perform well when the burden it is carrying is much due to the many parties?
“The neck is paining INEC because of the burdens of these parties. It is also costing the nation heavily. Electoral law should address some of these issues as we grow our democracy.
“Carrying this financial load every four years is a problem and it will continue to have negative impact on our economy because monies we spend on elections can be channel to other sector begging for attention.
“Why are we wasting money? It is unnecessary. ”
He said that the law should state a process to expunge and a process to replace the slot for the expunged parties.
Akande, who noted that the idea of creating political parties for selfish purposes was not good enough, added that strict conditions should be given for whoever that wanted to cross carpet.
NAN reports that so many social-political groups are still seeking registration as political parties from INEC. (NAN)
