By Dayo Omoogun
Some of the parties affected by the announcement of deregistration as political parties made by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) on Thursday have lashed out at the electoral umpire
describing the action as “senseless, hasty and a travesty” In a statement released by the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), it rejected the delisting in strong words stating that: “In the past 2 years and 3 weeks that ANRP has operated as a fully-registered party — having waited impatiently for 12 months to be so registered by INEC having met and surpassed all requirements —we have conducted ourselves with utmost professionalism, forming a coalition of untainted, altruistic, and driven patriots, who are fed up with the status quo and the sinking state of the nation.”
“Within this time we built a culture based on the ‘ANRP DNA’, we modelled the character of the new Nigeria we envisioned. We engaged on issues, critiqued responsibly, and offered policy alternatives.”
“Many ran for office in 2019, but we all underestimated the sordid reality in the political industry, beginning with a rotten INEC, the electorate, the rules, practices, and entire political ecosystem. In all of this, it cannot be said we did not try.
“ANRP vehemently disagrees with INEC for basing their decisions solely on the 2019 general elections, along with the entire injustice and unfairness associated with the delisting. The party shall, therefore, be challenging this travesty (solely and along with others) in the court.”
In his own reaction, National Chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, described the development as a “rude shock.” .
His words: “The news came to us as a rude shock, but we are yet to get a letter from INEC to explain how it arrived at the decision to deregister us and what we did that was not in accordance with the Constitution and Electoral Act that warranted that.
“But, while we waiting for such letter, I will convene an emergency meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party on how to respond to the development.” While tacitly accepting that his party may have failed to meet some of the criteria, Okorie argued that it did not fail on all the counts.
“The fact remains that there is a provision in the Electoral Act specifying a number of things that a party would have failed to do before it could be deregistered and those things include not winning elections at the local government, state and federal levels.
“But one of the reasons for which a party should not be deregistered is having a functional national secretariat. That is why INEC’s action is a rude shock for us because they visited our national secretariat even as we maintain presence in 29 out of the 36 state, including the Federal Capital Territory. So, we will meet and take a decision on the way forward.”
On his part, Dr. Yunusa Tanko of the National Conscience Party described the action as “hasty and senseless” noting that there is a case in court which the INEC ought to have waited for its outcome.