Why INEC will register more political parties – Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted that it has capacity to manage more political parties if they get registered.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while speaking to The Guardian, stated that the electoral body should not be held responsible for too many parties, as the constitution allows the proliferation.

“We have 45 political parties today, but remember that we had 60 parties before the last general election in 2015. In many countries less well-endowed than we are, you hear about 100 or more political parties.

“And so, given our population, diversity and number of constituencies, the number of political parties we have at the moment and possibly more parties to be registered before the next general elections can be effectively managed by INEC.

“As you can see, the number of parties we have in relation to our diversity is not too much to handle,” Yakubu explained.

He added that a multi-party or plural democracy should not restrict the number of political parties stressing, “as the saying goes, the more the merrier. Ultimately, citizens are the beneficiaries because they will be offered greater opportunity for choice.”

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