The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) has warmed that the growing number of political
parties may cause problems for the commission in 2019.
Chief Technical Adviser to the
INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, said this in Abuja on Monday at a retreat
organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.
He delivered a keynote address
titled, ‘The Dynamics of Managing Political Parties Professionally’.
“Currently there are 68
registered political parties. As of today, there are more than 100 associations
that have applied to INEC to register as political parties. This raises a
number of questions which we want this retreat to address,” he said.
Eyinla wondered how INEC would be
able to monitor congresses, conventions and primaries of all parties contesting
over 1,000 elective positions nationwide.
“We are also going to be
challenged if these 68 political parties and counting continue this way. We are
just a commission.
“I cannot begin to imagine even
as the technical adviser, how we will divide ourselves to monitor party
conventions and primaries of 68 political parties across the length and breadth
of this country.
“Already we have envisaged some
of these challenges and we are coming up with strategies to deal with them in
our election project plan.
“Ancillary to this is the fact
that political party agents will also increase. I can imagine 68 political
party agents in a polling unit.
“I think these are issues that we
have to manage; but most importantly, how do we manage the ballot for 68
political parties?”
Eyinla said if any registered
political party is mistakenly omitted from the ballot paper, it could lead to
the total cancellation of the exercise.
“I think perhaps one of the
largest ballots that I have seen is that of Afghanistan where the ballot paper
is nearly the size of a prayer mat.
“Given our level of literacy, I
think that is going to be a major challenge and as we know, the question of
exclusion is a major issue in the electoral process.
“The chairman was literally
sleeping and waking with the ballot for Anambra State election to ensure that
no party was excluded; to ensure that the names and logo of the parties were correct
because any slip could nullify the election.
“So, I think there is a challenge
with managing the ballot that will come with the increasing number of political
parties.”
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