The Chairman of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Oluwole Oke, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to deregister political parties that are inactive, lack national spread, or exploit the electoral system for personal enrichment.
Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State, stated that some political parties exist solely to file post-election court cases in order to extort victorious candidates desperate to secure their mandates.
He made the remarks in a position paper titled “Strengthening INEC’s Regulatory Role Over Political Parties to Safeguard Democratic Integrity,” which was released in Abuja on Monday.
The lawmaker stated, “There are myriad examples where political parties that were dormant or passive during electioneering will be the first to file election petitions at the tribunals, hoping and banking that winners will come to request out-of-court settlements.
“They then make huge monetary demands from such winners, who are desperate to avoid technical legal issues that may scuttle their victory.”
Describing the trend as the emergence of an “industry of political desperadoes,” Oke warned that such parties not only erode the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy but also clog the courts with frivolous litigations.
He lamented that the current system allowed such entities to “create legal chaos, confuse voters with overcrowded ballot papers, waste public resources, and damage public trust in electoral processes.”
Oke, citing Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution as amended, urged INEC to exercise its powers by deregistering parties that fail to meet minimum constitutional requirements—such as fielding candidates or winning seats in elections.
INEC should urgently conduct a compliance and viability audit of all registered parties. This exercise should become routine and annual.
Any political party that fails to pass the requirements should be deregistered.
Political parties that meet constitutional conditions for deregistration must be promptly removed from the register of political parties as part of routine mandatory compliance.”
He also called for amendments to the Electoral Act to limit legal standing in election petitions strictly to parties that actually participated in the elections.
The National Assembly should reinforce the doctrine of locus standi in our electoral jurisprudence,” he said
