Spare Nigeria Another Political Crisis

Going by the provision of the Electoral Act 2010, a political party known as the All Progressives Congress (APC) was born on July 10, 2013. This is because a formal request for merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) dated June 5 was received by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on June 10. Section 84 (4) of the Act says: “On receipt of the request for merger of political parties, the Commission shall consider the request and, if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the Constitution and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request- 

“PROVIDED that if the Commission fails to communicate its decision within 30 days the merger shall be deemed to be effective.”

INEC wrote back to the chairmen of the merging parties on June 12 forwarding 35 copies of the commission’s Form PA 1 for completion and return along with 35 copies each of the APC proposed constitution, manifesto and affidavit in support of claims in Form PA 1. The APC submitted the requested documents on July 1. Although INEC had stated in its June 12 letter that it would commence the processing of the request after receiving the demanded documents, that is not what the Electoral Act quoted above specifies. The words are “… 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request”, not 30 days from the date 35 copies of certain documents are submitted to INEC.

But when an official of the APC stated that the party had been registered after July 9, INEC said it was still processing the application. On Friday, INEC spokesman Mr Kayode Idowu told this newspaper that what was “proper” (not what the law says) was to take the date of application “from the day they (APC) furnished the commission with the necessary documents”.

If all goes well, the APC may still accept to wait until July 30 or 31 to get INEC’s confirmation before calling itself a political party as prescribed by the Electoral Act. But the worrying issue is that certain forces within and outside INEC seem bent on manipulating the electoral umpire and the law to frustrate APC’s registration. Right from the outset, these forces were visible in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): no sooner had the merging parties announced their new name than sponsored groups started seeking the registration of other “parties” with the acronym APC. One of the three or so nebulous “parties” has gone to court to challenge the registration of another APC, but, as Idowu himself stated, there is no injunction restraining INEC from performing its duties regarding the merger.

Some INEC commissioners who were/are card-carrying members of the PDP have, however, been the puppets pulling the strings for the PDP from within INEC. Authoritative sources have confirmed that these “eyes” and “ears” of the presidency and the PDP have been pressuring INEC chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega and their fellow top guns to frustrate the merging party without recourse to provisions of the law. It is up to INEC and Jega to choose between selfish interests and national interests. But we must warn the anti-democrats in the Nigerian polity to desist from plunging the nation into another round of avoidable political crisis. Registering a party does not translate to winning an election; so we wonder why some people in the ruling party are feeling uneasy. In any case, nothing can stop the registration of a party that has met all the requirements prescribed by the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution. Even if the name must be changed to AAA or ABC, the emergence of a mega party that will provide an alternative platform to confront the PDP in 2015 is as sure as death.

Why are some people jittery? Why is the presidency getting scared over the emergence of the APC? If anybody is interested in protecting and preserving democracy in the country, he ought to support a strong party that could prove a viable opposition to the ruling party. A one-party state is the last thing needed in the nation’s Fourth Republic. We have stated several times that democracy cannot flourish in this country so long as elections are not free, fair and credible and so long as we practise politics of winner-take-all. Only a strong opposition can ensure free polls and keep the ruling party on its toes.

APC is a mass movement whose train cannot be stopped by the enemies of democracy. Delaying its registration or forcing it to change its name will not be an impediment to the struggle to remove a party that has failed to perform after 14 years in power. Ultimately, it is the people – the electorate with whom sovereignty lies – that will determine the party to lead Nigeria from 2015.

One of the merging parties, the ACN, has urged INEC “not to compromise its neutrality and integrity by acting contrary to the law”. And INEC has affirmed that it would do what is right. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. It’s time for INEC to prove its independence. The world is watching.