The ruling Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday declined to sign a revised Code of Conduct, introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission to moderate the behavior of political parties and their members, as well as ensuring hitch-free elections in April.
INEC had presented the code to all the parties to sign at a ceremony in Abuja.
The code reads in part, “Political parties and their agents shall not engage in any of the following corrupt practices--- forcible occupation or invasion of a polling station, collation centre and INEC office.
“No political party or candidate shall use its power of incumbency to prevent other parties or candidates from pasting their posters or distributing their leaflets, handbills and other publicity materials in public places.
“All political parties shall file with the Commission details of their public rallies and meetings in any particular area prior to such meetings.
“All parties shall separate party business from government business. As such, parties shall not utilize public resources for party activities and shall not permit any of its sponsored candidates holding public office to use public resources for the purpose of political campaigning in elections.”
Some opposition parties had last week decried harassment and intimidation in some states controlled by the PDP.
The ceremony was well publicised in advance and agreed upon by most political parties at a retreat organised by INEC for chairmen of parties in Cross Rivers State last month.
Our correspondents gathered that at the INEC retreat at the Tinapa Resort, the parties present made an undertaking that if 50 of the 63 registered political parties signed the Code of Conduct, it would be binding on all other political parties.
Besides the PDP, African Renaissance Party also refused to sign the code, while Labour Party, which initially declined, later signed the document.
The PDP National Secretary, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who represented the party at the ceremony, rebuffed entreaties from INEC officials to sign the document.
Baraje did not state the reason for the party’s refusal to sign the document, but our correspondent overhead him telling an official of the International Republican Institute, “I don’t have the mandate of my party to sign.”
Before Baraje’s refusal to sign the document, a mild drama had played out when the National Chairman of the African Renaissance Party, Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, who is also the ARP’s presidential candidate, referred the document as “useless” and “a waste of time.”
While the National Chairman of Labour Party, Chief Dan Iwuanyanwu, later changed his mind, he had however, caused a stir with his opposition to the document.
He said, “We have studied the document and our legal department is of the opinion that we should not constitute ourselves into another body because INEC has the full responsibility to conduct elections.
“And the current Electoral Act has given INEC powers to deal with offenders, to deal with political parties that fail to conform.
“We signed (a) similar document before the 2007 elections and the INEC under Prof. Maurice Iwu did not keep its side of the bargain.
“If you look at this document, what are the obligations of INEC? I cannot come here and sign my death warrant.”
Iwanyanwu also alleged that the process of manipulating the 2011 elections had started.
According to him, “INEC has no business in the Electoral Act to decide who the candidate of a political party is. The law allows an aspirant to go to Court if he is aggrieved.
“The process has started because if a senator of the Federal Republic can talk to INEC not to include a candidate that emerged during the primaries, then something is wrong with INEC.
He insisted that provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act made adequate provisions on how political parties ought to conduct themselves before, during and after elections.
He also accused Resident Electoral Commissioners of forging party congress reports and illegal substitution of candidates, a claim which he failed to substantiate.
At the end of the ceremony the INEC boss, Prof. Attahiru Jega, declared that he was happy that 75 per cent of the 63 registered parties had endorsed the code of conduct.
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