ON DEREGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN NIGERIA

18th December 2012 PRESS RELEASE DEREGISTRATION OF PARTIES: RIGHT STEP The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently axed twenty political parties. The move has generated unsavory comments from some quarters with some alleging an attempt to turn the country into a one-party dictatorship as well as an infringement on people's right to freedom of association. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) views INEC's recent deregistration of some political parties as a wake-up call on existing political parties to exhibit more seriousness. We believe that it is only a good doctor that will not hesitate to amputate a rotten limb in order to salvage the remaining parts of the anatomy. Nigeria has too many registered political parties and the situation sometimes becomes so ridiculous that some presidential candidates have been known to score only one vote. It is our strong suspicion that some of the political parties are only there because of the fund they receive from the government. Such proliferation of the political landscape is not only unnecessary but infantile and prodigal. The advanced democracies of the world have fewer political parties. Britain has only two (Labour and Conservative parties). America has two only (Republicans and Democrats). France has five (the Socialist Party, The Greens, The Union for a Popular Movement, The Union for French Democracy and The National Front). Italy has twelve political parties that have fused into two major ones: The Christian Democratic Party (Partito della Democrazia Cristiana; DC) and the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano; PCI). Why must Nigeria be different? What exactly are we doing with forty or fifty political parties? It is an open invitation to chaos. MURIC asserts that detoxification of the political scenario is sine qua non for the emergence of a focused and principled political culture. We call upon the Federal Government to stop funding political parties. We charge the National Assembly to initiate a bill that will enable Nigerians in the diaspora to vote during elections in their fatherland. Failure to do this is tantamount to disenfranchisement. Every Nigerian at home and abroad must be given a voice. Anything contrary to this rubbishes the principle of 'one man one vote'. It reduces our democracy to a sham.       Finally, INEC must be empowered to penalize candidates or political parties who spend beyond certain limits during electioneering campaigns. Professor Is-haq Akintola,  Lagos State University, P.O. Box 10211, LASU Post Office, HO 102 101, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel. 234-803-346-4974        234-818-211-9714 Website: www.ishaqakintola.com Blog: drishaqakintola.blogspot.com Twitter:  ishaqakintola Facebook: facebook.com/ishaqakintola Twitter: ishaqakintola I remain oppressed untill the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed and the homeless sheltered