by: Yusuf Alli
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will on Thursday make its position known on whether to register the All Progressives Congress (APC) or not.
The electoral commission said it would follow compliance with the laws instead of sentiments.
But it was learnt that INEC field officials did not see APC as a religious party, contrary to insinuations.
According to sources, INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega and all the National Commissioners will meet on Thursday.
Some of the National Commissioners who travelled abroad were being recalled yesterday, according to sources.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We will lay the controversy over the registration of All Progressives Congress to rest on Thursday. But INEC management will be guided by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
“We will also stick to our target of making the political space as free and fair as possible to all stakeholders without partiality.
“We are hopeful that by Thursday, most of the National Commissioners would have been around.”
On the insinuation that the APC is a religious party, the source said: “Our officials did not find such a colouration in their assessment to brand APC a religious party.
“If we did, we would have made our position known that we cannot register the party. We screened the list of all its national officers and nothing suggested a tilt towards any religion.”
The source stressed that INEC’s decision would be informed by Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 78 of the Electoral Act.
“We have been doing final assessment of the application of the APC in line with these provisions in the Constitution and the Electoral Act,” the source said.
Section 222 of the Constitution says: “No Association by whatever name called shall function as a political party unless:
the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission;
b. the membership of the association is opened to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping
c. a copy of its Constitution is registered in the principal office of INEC in such form as may be prescribed by INEC
any alteration in its registered Constitution is also registered in the principal office of INEC within 30 days of the making of such alteration
the name of the association, its symbol or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious connotation or give the appearance that the activities of the association are confined to a part only of the geographical area of Nigeria and
the headquarters of the association is situated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja
Section 78 of the Electoral Act reads: “A political association that complies with the provision of the constitution and this Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party. Provided that such application for registration as a political party shall be duly submitted to the Commission not later than six months before a general election.
“The Commission shall, on receipt of the documents in fulfillment of the conditions stipulated by the Constitution, immediately issue the applicant with a letter of acknowledgement stating that all the necessary document has been submitted to the Commission.
“If the association has not fulfilled all the conditions under the section, the Commission shall within 30 days from the receipt of its application notify the association in writing stating the reasons for non-registration.
“A political association that meets the conditions stipulated in the constitution and this Act shall be registered by the Commission as a political party within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, and if after the 30 days such association is not registered by the Commission unless the Commission informs the association to the contrary, it shall be deemed to have been registered.
“An association which, through the submission of false or misleading information pursuant to the provisions of this section, procures a certificate of registration shall have such certificate cancelled.
“An application for registration as a political party shall not be processed unless there is evidence of payment of administrative fee as may be fixed from time to time by the Commission.
“The Commission shall have power to deregister political parties on the following grounds; breach of any of the requirement for registration and for failure to win a seat in the National or State Assembly election.”
TheNation
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