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Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Nigerian Election Working Group has decried the proliferation of political parties in Nigeria.
It therefore called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to propose an amendment to the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act to ensure that only parties with reasonable popular support have access to the ballot paper.
Convener of the group, Adele Jinadu, a professor, stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
Jinadu lamented that too many political parties not only cost money but also confuse the electoral empire and electorates.
According to the electoral body, there are currently 68 registered political parties in the country with over 100 applications from political associations.
Jinadu said: “The number of political parties registered in Nigeria is becoming excessive and INEC has no legal basis to constrain the process because successive Supreme Court judgments have compelled INEC to register almost all applicants.
“INEC should begin engagement with various stakeholders, especially citizens, civil society, the political parties and the National Assembly, to ensure that only parties and candidates with demonstrable support can get onto the ballot.
“INEC should propose an amendment to the Constitution and the Electoral Act to ensure that only parties with reasonable popular support have access to the ballot paper”.
He also charged the electoral umpire to establish a process of debriefing its ad-hoc staff after every election, in order to document their experiences and generate lessons from them for future exercises.
On the July 14, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State, Jinadu urged election officials and voters not to be deterred from participating in the electoral process by excessive deployment of security personnel.
