‘We lack constitutional power to deregister any political party’ – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said it does not possess the constitutional power to de-register any of the existing 91 political parties in Nigeria.

The INEC Federal Commissioner in charge of Nasarawa, Kogi and Kwara States, Malam Muhammed Haruna said this on Monday in Lokoja, while declaring open a post-election review meeting on the last general elections.

Haruna said that the clamour by Nigerians for a reduction in the number of registered parties could only be done through an amendment of the Constitution, NAN reports.

He agreed that the provisions in the 1999 Constitution which state that parties must be national in outlook and have headquarters in Abuja had led to unexpected problems, but explained that INEC was helpless.

The Commissioner advocated a consensus among stakeholders to resolve the issue, explaining that constitutional amendment was the only way out.

Haruna also identified logistics as the major challenge the INEC encountered in the process of conducting the last general elections, saying that steps would be taken to prevent a recurrence.