DR. KAYODE AJULO, LEGAL PRACTITIONER: KUDOS TO INEC FOR DOING THE NEEDFUL
“Registration of more political parties is a good step in all ramifications, if the registration is done with sincerity and based on integrity of purpose. As it is, INEC has a mandate to register any entity, once the conditions as stipulated in Section222 of the Constitution are met. I know that at the level of secondary school education, it is taught in Government that Nigeria operates a multi-party system and it allows for democracy since it gives people the opportunity to freely associate or join any political party they want to. It allows for mass political participation as people are more involved in the government of the day. It allows for peaceful change of power and allows for opposition to the ruling government.
If these can be taught in theory, that means, it can be seen in practical. The move by INEC to register more political parties is a step to achieving these. “We must remember and salute Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN for going to court to have a proper interpretation of the constitution which opened a floodgate of registration of multiple
parties in Nigeria. Apart from leading a campaign for the restoration of civil rule, Fawehinmi spearheaded the effort that led to the expansion of the democratic space by ensuring that the stringent conditions for the registration of political parties designed by INEC were declared illegal by the court. If 500 entities met the condition, they must be registered. The law must take its course and the heavens won’t fall. Kudos therefore should go to INEC for doing the needful.
“Nigerians have a choice to belong to any political party without any hassle and this was made possible by Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution as amended which grants the right to peaceful assembly and association. With the registration of more political parties, no political party can boast of having monopoly over other parties and the true meaning of choice, freedom in spirit and letter is presently at play in Nigeria. The historical perspective of the emergence of political parties in Nigeria is case study of how the constitutional evolvement of Nigeria and the path to democracy has
been acted upon by a series of factors, among which is the registration of more political parties. One thing is certain, a more inclusive political culture is being imbibed by Nigerians and that is a good thing to note. In the United States, with multiple political parties, practitioners have been able to make use of the multiple parties to develop political engagements without any backlash and negative tendencies.
“It is self-evident that the statutory requirements for the registration of political parties were actually made liberal for the political engineering of strong, viable, and vibrant political parties in Nigeria.
That is what we should place premium on, while guiding the conduct of the parties to ensure that their negative tendencies are abated. This is achievable by ensuring that their operations are firmly regulated in accordance with our laws in ensuring that multiplication of political parties is not used to stifle peoples will thereby turning to an antithesis of the purpose for multiple registration of political parties.”