The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 75 political associations have applied for registration as political parties.
Chief Technical Adviser to the INEC chairman, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, stated this at a two-day learning conference with the theme ‘The Regional Cost of Politics’ organized by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
If granted, Nigeria would have more than 100 registered political parties as 40 currently exists.
Eyinla pointed out that existing laws do not give INEC the power to restrict the political parties.
Prof. Eyinla further lamented the cost of the 2015 general elections, describing it as the highest ever in the history of the country.
He said: “In the last general elections in Benin Republic, the core cost was $15 million and then you had a candidate, who alone spent about $32 million. In Nigeria, our core cost was $547million. It is perhaps the most expensive elections that we have ever seen.
“I have seen figures somewhere of between $1.5 billion to $2 billion and believe me, it is true, if we really knew what happened. In one scandal, we heard of $115 million”.
Comments