Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the House of Representatives’ plan to establish the Political Parties Registration and Regulation Commission, PPRRC, which intends to register, regulate, and monitor the creation and operation of political parties in Nigeria.
Although the ex-vice president applauded the initiative to deprive the Independent National Electoral Commission of the authority to register and regulate political party activities, he cautioned about the financial implications of establishing another public institution given the economic realities of the time.
The measure was co-sponsored by Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Mr Marcus Onobun, member of the Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency in Edo State.
The bill currently before the House Committee on Constitution Review seeks to alter Sections 40, 81, 84, 153, 222, 225, 226, 228 and the Third Schedule of the Constitution to establish the Political Parties Registration and Regulation Commission and empower it to register, regulate and monitor political parties in the country.
According to the explanatory memorandum, this will “reduce the burden on INEC and also allow the PPRRC to focus squarely on regulating and registering, dissolving and monitoring the operation, finances, internal democracy, primaries and general conduct of political parties in Nigeria to ensure order, transparency and a level playing field.”
In reaction on Tuesday, Atiku, speaking through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, noted that INEC, as currently constituted, is saddled with so many responsibilities that its capacity to deliver on the primary mandate of conducting free, credible and transparent elections has been called into question in the past few years.
The former Vice President said, “INEC is biting off more than it can chew. Some of the tasks it is saddled with give room for a lot of distraction. As good as it is to relieve the umpire of these tasks, the way to go is not to establish another commission. Instead of creating another commission, agencies like the National Identity Management Commission can be empowered to register and monitor the activities of political parties.”
Atiku mentioned that the INEC Nigeria needs a well-structured agency to deliver on the mandate for which it was established.
“Nigeria needs a well-structured INEC that is efficient in service delivery. We don’t need to establish another commission to replicate functions that can be performed by already existing institutions,” he added.
