“It is left for political actors to develop a convention for a two-party system.”
A political economist, Pat Utomi, on Monday said that a two-party system was best for Nigeria.
Mr. Utomi said this on the backdrop of registration of two new political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC on Friday announced the registration of two the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Independent Democrats (ID).
INEC Secretary, A.C. Ogakwu, had said in a statement that the registration was in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).
Mr. Utomi said he recognised INEC’s constitutional power to register political parties; but said that a two party-system would be preferable for Nigeria.
“It is left for political actors to develop a convention for a two-party system,” he said.
Similarly, the Lagos State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Godfrey Lemchi, described the registration of the two new parties as contradictory.
“The registration of two new political parties coming from a commission that deregistered 28 political parties, not long ago, is contradictory,” he said.
Mr. Lemchi urged INEC not to appeal against the recent court judgment nullifying the deregistration.
However, a former Electoral Commissioner of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, Mohammed Oyefeso, said that the registration of the new parties was in order.
“Freedom of association is guaranteed under the constitution,” he said.
Musa Umar, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), also said that the registration was a good development.
“It is a good development in a democratic system; people should have choice of political platforms; let the people decide the number of parties they want by their votes, and not INEC,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has commended INEC for the registration.
The South West Secretary of the CNPP, Austin Nnorom, said that the registration was a welcome development.
He said INEC had no constitutional powers to stop parties from evolving.
(NAN)
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