By Chuks Okocha
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Thursday announced the deregistration of 74 out of the 92 registered political parties in the country
The decision was conveyed by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,
at a press conference in Abuja.
According to the INEC chairman, the political parties allowed to operate in Nigeria are the Accord Party, the Action Alliance, African Action Congress, African Democratic Congress, All Progressives Congress, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Allied Peoples Movement, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, National Rescue November, Peoples Democratic Party, Peoples Redemption Party, Social Democratic Party, Young Progressives Party and Zenith Labour Party.
The rest, he said, ceases to be regarded as a registered political party in Nigeria.
Giving justification for INEC’s action, Prof. Yakubu said that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) under the fourth alterations vests in INEC the power to register and regulate the activities of political parties on the following grounds. “Breach of any of the requirements for registration as a political party.
“Failure to win at least 25% of the votes cast in one State of the Federation in a Presidential election or 25% of the votes cast in one Local Government Area of a State in a Governorship election.
“Failure to win at least one ward in a Chairmanship election, one seat in the National or State Assembly election or one seat in a Councillorship election”.
He said that in 2018, the Constitution was amended. and in addition to the extant provision for the registration of political parties, the Fourth Alteration to the Constitution (Section 225A) empowers the Commission to deregister political parties.
Prior to the Fourth Alteration, the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), he said that constitution had provided for the deregistration of political parties and based on this provision, the Commission, between 2011 and 2013, deregistered 39 political parties.
However, he said several of the parties challenged the power of INEC to deregister them, particularly on the grounds that the Electoral Act was inferior to the Constitution and that deregistration infringed their fundamental rights under the same Constitution.
Subsequently, he said that the courts ordered the Commission to reinstate the parties and that it was for this reason that the National Assembly amended the Constitution to empower the Commission to deregister political parties on the following above grounds.
According to the INEC chairman, in order to implement the provision of the Fourth Alteration to the Constitution, the Commission carried out an assessment of political parties to determine compliance with the requirements for their registration.
He said that similarly, following the conclusion of the 2019 general election, including court-ordered re-run elections arising from litigations, the Commission was able to determine the performance of political parties in the elections. In addition, they were also assessed on the basis of their performance in the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which coincided with the 2019 general election. It should be noted that the FCT is the only part of the country where INEC is empowered by the Constitution to conduct Local Government elections.
Consequently, he said that the Commission had determined that sixteen (16) political parties have fulfilled the requirements for existence based on Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as follows:
S/No.
NAME OF PARTY
1.
Accord Party
A
2.
Action Alliance
AA
3.
African Action Congress
AAC
4.
African Democratic Congress
ADC
5.
African Democratic Party
ADP
6.
All Progressives Congress
APC
7.
All Progressives Grand Alliance
APGA
8.
Allied Peoples Movement
APM
9.
Labour Party
LP
10.
New Nigeria Peoples Party
NNPP
11.
National Rescue Movement
NRM
12.
Peoples Democratic Party
PDP
13.
Peoples Redemption Party
PRP
14.
Social Democratic Party
SDP
15.
Young Progressive Party
YPP
16.
Zenith Labour Party
ZLP
He said that Seventy-five (75) political parties did not satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Alteration to the Constitution.
However, he explained that one of the political parties, the Action Peoples Party (APP), filed a suit in court and obtained an order restraining the Commission from deregistering it. Consequently, the party remains registered pending the determination of the case by the court.
“The new political party, Boot Party (BP), registered by court order after the 2019 general election will also continue to exist.
“Accordingly, seventy-four (74) political parties are hereby deregistered. With this development, Nigeria now has eighteen (18) registered political parties. The list of the parties will be shared with you at this briefing and will also be available on our website and social media platforms shortly”, the INEC chairman explained. .
The de registered political parties as released by INEC are:
LIST OF DE-REGISTERED POLITICAL PARTIES
S/NO.
NAME OF PARTY
1.
ADVANCED ALLIED PARTY
AAP
2.
ALL BLENDING PARTY
ABP
3.
ADVANCED CONGRESS OF DEMOCRATS
ACD
4.
ALLIED CONGRESS PARTY OF NIGERIA
ACPN
5.
ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY
AD
6.
ALL GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE
AGA
7.
ALL GRAND ALLIANCE PARTY
AGAP
8.
ADVANCED NIGERIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
ANDP
9.
ALLIANCE FOR NEW NIGERIA
ANN
10.
ALLIANCE NATIONAL PARTY
ANP
11.
ABUNDANT NIGERIA RENEWAL PARTY
ANRP
12.
AFRICAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE
APA
13.
ADVANCED PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
APDA
14.
ALTERNATIVE PARTY OF NIGERIA
APN
15.
ALLIANCE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
ASD
16.
ALLIANCE FOR A UNITED NIGERIA
AUN
17.
BETTER NIGERIA PROGRESSIVE PARTY
BNPP
18.
CHANGE ADVOCACY PARTY
CAP
19.
COALITION FOR CHANGE
C4C
20.
CHANGE NIGERIA PARTY
CNP
21.
CONGRESS OF PATRIOTS
COP
22.
DEMOCRATIC ALTERNATIVE
DA
23.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES CONGRESS
DPC
24.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES PARTY
DPP
25.
FRESH DEMOCRATIC PARTY
FRESH
26.
FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY
FJP
27.
GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT PARTY OF NIGERIA
GDPN
28.
GREEN PARTY OF NIGERIA
GPN
29.
HOPE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
HDP
30.
INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS
ID
31.
JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL PARTY
JMPP
32.
KOWA PARTY
KP
33.
LIBERATION MOVEMENT
LM
34.
LEGACY PARTY OF NIGERIA
LPN
35.
MASS ACTION JOINT ALLIANCE
MAJA
36.
MODERN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
MDP
37.
MASSES MOVEMENT OF NIGERIA
MMN
38.
MEGA PARTY OF NIGERIA
MPN
39.
MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION AND DEFENCE OF DEMOCRACY
MRDD
40.
NATIONAL ACTION COUNCIL
NAC
41.
NIGERIA COMMUNITY MOVEMENT PARTY
NCMP
42.
NATIONAL CONSCIENCE PARTY
NCP
43.
NIGERIA DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS PARTY
NDCP
44.
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC LIBERTY PARTY
NDLP
45.
NIGERIA ELEMENTS PROGRESSIVE PARTY
NEPP
46.
NIGERIA FOR DEMOCRACY
NFD
47.
NEW GENERATION PARTY OF NIGERIA
NGP
48.
NATIONAL INTEREST PARTY
NIP
…
