Twenty-five political parties, under the aegies of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, on Wednesday demanded amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act and scrap of States Electoral Commission.
They also commended the anti-corruption efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The parties at the meeting include Labour Party, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Accord Party, African Democratic Congress, Democratic Peoples Congress, National Conscience Party and Progressive Peoples Alliance.
Others are Advanced Congress of Democrats, Peoples Redemption Party, United Peoples Party, Peoples Progressive Party, Peoples Party of Nigeria, Independent Democrats and Better Nigeria Progressive Party among others.
National Chairman of IPAC, Muhammad Naldo, told newsmen after the emergency meeting held at the national secretariat of the Accord Party in Abuja, that the gathering also prayed for the good health for President Muhammadu Buhari.
On outcome of the meeting, he said, “We have 25 political parties here endorsing this resolution. IPAC is calling on the constitutional and electoral committees to work assiduously with the National Assembly to ensure effective and prompt amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act before the 2019 general election.
“We are making these demands because we want our democracy to be well protected. All those grey areas that have been very controversial and creating confusion should be addressed, including party supremacy. Let political parties be responsible for the nomination of candidates for election.
“We are also recommending the scrapping of SIECs to allow a level-playing field for all political parties to participate in elections. The SIECs are using INEC apparatuses to conduct elections, including party registers and ballot boxes. The only thing they don’t provide is the manpower.
“And if INEC can provide manpower for all elections, why can’t it do same at state and local government levels? The SIECs are not independent. So, we want an independent electoral umpire to conduct elections at state and LG levels.”
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