Court bars INEC from deregistering 31 political parties

- A Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped INEC from deregistering 31 political parties

- The court ruled that INEC failed to counter the application filed by the political parties

- Recall that INEC had deregistered 74 political parties following their bad outing in the 2019 general elections

The attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission to reduce the massive number of political parties in the country has been hindered by a court order.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Federal High Court in Abuja restrained the electoral body from deregistering 31 political parties.

The court ruled that INEC failed to counter the application filed by the political parties, adding that the parties have a legal right which must be protected.

Legit.ng gathers that the suit was filed by Advanced Congress of Democratic (ACD) and 2 others against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and INEC.

INEC had deregistered by 74 political parties following its review of the 2019 election. Only 18 political parties had survived the process.

Among those who had survived the process were the PDP, APC and the SDP.

INEC had deregistered the parties as a result of their bad outing in the 2019 general elections.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that political parties under the umbrella of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) supported INEC's decision.

The council said the action of INEC was constitutional.

“It is therefore based on the lawfulness of the action of the commission, the desirability of the need to sanitize the electoral space that we the 18 political parties in Nigeria hereby endorse this bold step by INEC and commend it for this worthy cause,” the council said in the communique signed by its representatives and sent to journalists.

Also, an election observer group, the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) commended INEC's decision to deregister the 74 political parties.

CTA, a major stakeholder in the polity, described INEC's decision as a bold move that will bring further reforms to Nigeria's electoral process.

Similarly, the APC urged INEC to de-register more political parties. The ruling party explained that such move will sanitise Nigeria’s electoral system.

Nwachukwu Eze, the chairman of Ebonyi chapter of APC made the call in an interview with NAN.

Eze said that the de-registration process should continue until the country has a maximum of six political parties.

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However, some of the deregistered political parties on Thursday, February 7, condemned the electoral body's action.

Okey Chikwendum said the electoral body's action is against the constitution. He also described the INEC's action as “an evidence of misplaced priority”.

Meanwhile, reactions from social media suggest some Nigerians are not happy with the court ruling which restrained INEC from deregistering the parties.

Hardedigbhar Harkoladeh Taofeeq reacted: "Judiciary is killing all the good policies in this country.."

"In another language, they were able to create more voter apathy in future elections," Usman Sifawa said.

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Source: Legit.ng