The House has passed a bill that requires the establishment of independent authority on registration, regulation and funding for Nigerian political parties.
The bill, co-sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Edo legislator Marcus Onobun, proposes to remove registration and regulation of political parties from the responsibilities of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC).
Onobun believes that INEC should focus on elections because of its current overload of work. He pointed out that election transparency has become a frequent election dispute and has become a major public concern.
“In recent years, the call for transparency in the Nigerian election process continues to dominate the public discourse. The increase in the number of election disputes at all levels proves this. The fact that all stakeholders in the election process are unable to elect credible leaders and experience good governance is undermined by violations in the process of electing her leaders,” Onobun said.
He stressed that many Nigerians blamed INEC for election violations and that it was necessary to restore public confidence in the election process. “Many citizens have correctly or wrongly accused INEC of committing election violations. Whether split people may find themselves, our election process requires surgical procedures, which is undisputed,” he said.
Onobun noted that with Nigeria’s population exceeding 200 million, INEC bears the burden of registering and regulating political parties, while also being responsible for president, governor and legislative elections. He called for a new regulatory body to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards among political parties, while allowing INEC to focus on election management.
“To improve our electoral process and the management of political parties, we want to have different authority, which will be responsible for the registration and normative of party activities. This will ensure that registered parties comply with the constitutional and other statutory requirements, while INEC focuses on its main distribution of elections to ensure a more skilled, seamless and transparent democratic process in Nigeria,” he explained.
The bill proposes the establishment of the Party Registrar Office, which oversees the registration and operation of political parties. It also seeks to establish a party dispute court that will deal with conflicts between party members, political parties, independent candidates and alliance partners.
Onobun noted: “Under Articles 41 and 42, the bill provides for the penalties for crimes by political parties and their members and provides for punishment for criminals to ensure transparency and accountability for the administration of Nigerian political parties.”
In addition, Section 47 of the Act is intended to amend Sections 75-81 of the Elections Act 2022 to remove party registration from INEC’s duties. After the Voice vote, the bill received overwhelming support from lawmakers and was forwarded to the Electoral Affairs and Party Matters Committee for further legislative review.
