Shitta-Bey Wants Utomi’s Party Sacked

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The Mega Progressive People’s Party, MPPP, has called on the Independent National   Electoral Commission, INEC, to cancel the registration of Social Democratic Mega  Party, SDMP, on the ground that its name clearly resembles the description and  acronym of its party otherwise known as Mega Party, else it will seek redress in the  court of law.

Alhaji Rasheed Adewale Shita-Bey, the MPPP boss is of the belief that the  registration of two political parties with identical acronyms (Mega Party) is wrong  while the SDMP boss Professor Pat Utomi said nothing was wrong with such  development.

Against this background, Alhaji Shitta-Bey, a former Alliance for Democracy, AD,  chieftain  petitioned the INEC, asking it to cancel SDMP registration.

In the petition dated 13 September, 2010, he alleged that the registration of  SDMP  contravened INEC’s regulation that the name or acronym of the association seeking  registration must not be the same as the name or acronym of an existing party or  association.

He pointed out that in all their meetings, their slogan has always been “mega  party”, complaining that the party, SDMP, copiously used his party’s acronym “Mega”  with the aim to deceiving or confusing members of the public over the identity of   MPPP.

Shitta-Bey reasoned that the INEC should have refused to register the SDMP based on  this reason, asking it to de-register the party if truly the commission was  committed to conducting free, fair and credible election in 2011.

The MPPP boss further stated that one other reason why INEC should not have  registered the SDMP is that, “the name is the same as the registered description of  Mega Progressive Peoples Party otherwise known as “Mega party”.

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He added that the name could mislead the voters about the effect of their votes and  that the name could contradict or hinder a voter’s understanding of any instructions  about the voting process.

While submitting that registration of the SDMP was in clear breach of section 78 of  the Electoral Act, 2010, Shitta-Bey urged INEC to clear the mess caused by the  ill-advised registration of the SDMP by ensuring that nomination forms are not given  to the party so as to prevent it from participating in the forthcoming 2011 general  elections.

INEC in a letter signed by its secretary to the SDMP entitled: “reply to 2nd  verification visit 10/06/2010 and dated 5 August, 2010, read “the Commission at its  meeting on Tuesday 3 August, 2010 observed the similarity in the name of your  political association with one of the registered political parties.

“Accordingly, the commission advises you change the name of your political  association for further consideration.”

The SDMP boss, Professor Pat Utomi in his reply rejected INEC’s observation,  explaining that there was precedence in registering parties with identical  nomenclature in the past.

He described its rejection by INEC because of the word “Mega” as untenable,  explaining that words such as “Peoples, Democratic” and “Nigeria” are just three of  the words that recur continually in the names of political parties registered by the  commission.

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