By Jude Opara
Chairman, Board of Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), Raphael Igbokwe, says the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is under pressure to deregister the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Labour Party and other political parties.
Igbokwe stated this while addressing newsmen shortly after the Federal High Court in Abuja fixed March 24 for ruling on a joinder application in a suit seeking to compel the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Zenith Labour Party,( ZLP), and Action Alliance, (AA), over alleged non-compliance with constitutional requirements.
He said they approached the court to seek clarification and interpretation of some sections of the Constitution as it relates to regulation of political parties, stating that their intent is just to contribute in enriching and expanding the nation’s electoral jurisprudence.
“And we felt that INEC should be up and doing. We operate a constitutional democracy in which every entity, body, authority, is expected to carry out the operations according to the provisions of the Constitution.
“And as a country that also runs the rule of law, we are really worried that INEC seems to be wanting to choose and pick which political parties to apply the law. If they could apply the law five years ago in 2021 and they registered 74 political parties, why are they not applying the law now?
“So we expect that at the end of the day, the court has to decide one way or the other, if acted beautifully or otherwise. But we are happy that this is really going to enrich our electoral jurisprudence, that is why we are in court,” he said.
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