The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warmed that
the growing number of political parties may cause problems for the
commission in 2019.
Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla,
said this in Abuja on Monday at a retreat organised by the National
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.
He delivered a keynote address titled, ‘The Dynamics of Managing Political Parties Professionally’.
“Currently there are 68 registered political parties. As of today,
there are more than 100 associations that have applied to INEC to
register as political parties. This raises a number of questions which
we want this retreat to address,” he said.
Eyinla wondered how INEC would be able to monitor congresses,
conventions and primaries of all parties contesting over 1,000 elective
positions nationwide.
“We are also going to be challenged if these 68 political parties and counting continue this way. We are just a commission.
“I cannot begin to imagine even as the technical adviser, how we will
divide ourselves to monitor party conventions and primaries of 68
political parties across the length and breadth of this country.
“Already we have envisaged some of these challenges and we are coming
up with strategies to deal with them in our election project plan.
“Ancillary to this is the fact that political party agents will also
increase. I can imagine 68 political party agents in a polling unit.
“I think these are issues that we have to manage; but most importantly, how do we manage the ballot for 68 political parties?”
Eyinla said if any registered political party is mistakenly omitted
from the ballot paper, it could lead to the total cancellation of the
exercise.
“I think perhaps one of the largest ballots that I have seen is that
of Afghanistan where the ballot paper is nearly the size of a prayer
mat.
“Given our level of literacy, I think that is going to be a major
challenge and as we know, the question of exclusion is a major issue in
the electoral process.
“The chairman was literally sleeping and waking with the ballot for
Anambra State election to ensure that no party was excluded; to ensure
that the names and logo of the parties were correct because any slip
could nullify the election.
“So, I think there is a challenge with managing the ballot that will come with the increasing number of political parties.”