Deregister weak political parties – YADA

From Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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A non-governmental organisation, Youths Alliance for Democratic Advancement (YADA), has hinted that the country’s electioneering process will continue to suffer retrogression unless the political parties perceived to be weak are deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The group also charged the governors-elect to prioritise youth empowerment by apportioning  certain percentage of political appointments to them in line with the Not Too Young To Rule Law.

The group added that the long list of political parties on the ballots in the 2019 general election constituted confusion and accounted for high number of void votes recorded in some states.

YADA also congratulated President Buhari for winning the presidential poll, urging the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to accept the outcome and refrain from any litigation that could distract the government.

 In a statement by it’s Ekiti State Coordinator, Prince Michael Ogungbemi, in Ado Ekiti on Monday, the group said registering 91 political parties in a developing country like Nigeria with high level of illiteracy, won’t help the electoral system in any way.

“The number of 91 parties that participated in the general elections was not good, instead, INEC should tentatively register most of these parties for local governments and State Houses of Assembly elections with performance benchmarks or criteria that if they score certain percentage of votes, they would qualify to participate in the Gubernatorial and National Assembly elections and up to the Presidential election.

“If not check and control, INEC, may register up to 300 political parties before 2023. INEC wouldn’t be able to manage these numbers of political parties in the future”.

The youth based organisation urged President Buhari to step up the fight against corruption and boosting of economy in his second term for posterity to judge him well.

“For the opposition party Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, if you seek elective public office and people in their wisdom voted against your aspiration in a transparent and fair contest, just as the one experienced in the just concluded presidential election, the right thing to do is to congratulate the winner . This is the path the PDP must toe”

Ogungbemi stated that Nigerian youths could only attain an enviable height in the politics of the nation, if they align with the progressive party and get elected pivotal positions of influence.

He saluted Governor Kayode Fayemi for working hard to secure victory for the APC in Ekiti State, saying Fayemi’s superlative performance swayed the electorate to vote the ruling party.

“Governor Fayemi’s brilliant performance and credible leadership influenced voters in Ekiti to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and for the party to win three Senators, six House of representatives and 25 out of 26 House of Assembly seats.

“We appreciate the Ekiti electorate for their peaceful conduct, comportment and cooperation with the electoral body and security operatives while exercising their constitutional franchise”.