Also, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, National Conscience Party and African Renaissance Party have cautioned INEC against denying a chunk of over 70 million eligible Nigerians of the right to participate in the forthcoming registration of voters.
Musa, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja, also said most political parties would find it extremely difficult to comply with the rules. He said only the Peoples Democratic Party had all the requirements to hold primaries for elective public offices across the country, noting that the PRP would require at least N42m to hold its primaries in just one state.
He declared, “INEC’s guidelines are impossible to comply with by most of the 62 political parties because of the amount of money required. It’s so impossible. Only the PDP will be able to nominate candidates who can pass through the INEC screening for all the elections.”
Musa said the electoral system should be blamed for the lopsidedness which favours the ruling PDP government. He said it was the responsibility of political parties to urgently call the attention of the National Assembly to the anomaly before it passes the 2010 Electoral Act for President Goodluck Jonathan’s assent.
“The solution to the problem is for the political parties themselves to raise the issue at the public hearing on the ammendment to the Electoral Act being conducted by the National Assembly. This is the last chance they have,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has called on INEC to ensure that the two-week timeline set for the voter registration by the commission allows all eligible Nigerians to participate.
He told NAN in Abuja on Tuesday that INEC officials to be deployed in registration centres across the country should have adequate training that would enable them to finish the exercise within the stipulated time.
“Within that timeline, INEC can conclude the exercise; but the most important thing is that if 10 million Nigerians register and they come out to vote, let their votes count. INEC can conclude the voter registration within the timeline of two weeks as it is not likely that everybody will participate in the elections, due to religious encumbrances and going by their busy schedules.
“What we are talking about is that they have provided for 132,000 direct data capture machines machines but what they have as of now is 120,000 polling stations. So, if they have one machine per polling station, the polling station is supposed to have maximum or minimum of 500 people,” he observed.
He said further that if the two weeks were inadequate to meet the target, INEC should not hesitate to extend it by a week, noting that the discretion to do so was that of the commission.
However, the NCP National General Secretary, Malam Yunusa Tanko, expressed reservations about the two-week timeline, noting that it would be insufficient for INEC officials to register all eligible voters. Tanko advised INEC to reconsider the time frame meant for the exercise, saying that a public holiday could even be declared for the exercise.
He said, “Credible elections have basis in voters’ registration that is done with the utmost seriousness that it deserved. Elections are based on a valid voter register. But when the foundation has not been laid properly, we may have crooked elections, God forbid.
“We are suggesting that the period of two weeks for an exercise such as voter registration be reviewed and if it demands a public holiday so be it because this is a serious issue,” he said.
Source:http://www.punchng.com
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