12th December, 2012
The state commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers said on Wednesday that a five-party system would guarantee and strengthen the electoral process in Nigeria.
Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak, the Resident Electoral Commissioner,said in an interview in Port Harcourt that the nation’s electoral system needed to be sanitised.
He said a five-party system was the best for the country to overcome electoral irregularities and shake off corruption among political parties.
“We don’t want unserious political associations whose members stay at home with their wives to demand money from government.
“Many of them are registered to disappear during elections,” Ikoiwak said.
According to him, a five party structure will raise the standard of Nigeria’s electoral process because all the parties will be serious in contest for power.
The commissioner urged the country to strive towards better electoral process which could be attained through a five-party system or lesser.
Ikoiwak explained that such system would usher in an unprecedented grassroots mobilisation and participation in the electoral process with its attendant accountability.
He emphasised the importance of grassroots inclusiveness in the nation’s electoral process, saying that it was the foundation of any viable democracy.
He decried the misconduct of some political parties which nominated fraudulent candidates, adding that it would be eliminated through the system, if adopted.
Ikoiwak explained that some unserious party candidates had developed the habit of playing the role of ‘’spoilers’’ if they were not settled by serious opponents.
The commissioner said that such misconduct was common under the current multi-party system.
He, however, expressed optimism on the ability of the commission to flush out corrupt politicians if the right political party system was adopted.
According to him, it is the constitutional right of the commission to register and also de-register parties, drawing its powers from the Electoral Act.
Ikoiwak said that political parties that could not satisfy the basics expected of them as provided in the act were the ones beingde-registered.
He advised any person or political party that felt aggrieved by the decision of INEC to go to court for redress, adding that the commission was always law-abiding.
Last week, INEC rubbed off the register 28 political associations in Nigeria.