As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) works towards the 2015 elections, it has been advised to ignore any political party that does not have the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism.
This was the view of experts at a roundtable organised in Abuja yesterday by the Dispute Resolution Unit of the commission on how to minimise electoral cases in Nigeria.
Declaring the event open, INEC national commissioner in-charge of monitoring and development of political parties, Mrs. Amina Zakari, who represented the chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said the use of the ADR would help to solve most of the crises that arise within and among political parties.
She regretted that recently, most of the nation’s leading political parties were engulfed in one crisis or the other, adding that most of the problems begin when elections are near.
The lead discussant and professor of Law in the University of Lagos, Bolaji Owasanoye, said a lot would be achieved if INEC would refuse to register political parties that do not make provision for Alternative Electoral Disputes Resolution (AEDR) in accordance with what is obtainable in other climes.
The roundtable, with the theme: “Engaging with Political Parties on the Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution as a Tool for Resolving Electoral Disputes,” was organised for all the registered political parties in the country.
Delivering the lead paper entitled: “An Appraisal of the Current Approaches to Electoral Dispute Resolution in Nigeria,” Prof. Owasanoye charged the National Assembly to, as matter of urgent national importance, use the opportunity of the present constitution amendment to improve on the country’s electoral process.
He also called for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais-led electoral reform panel, which among other things, demanded the introduction of independent candidates in the Nigerian electoral system.
“The last constitution amendment in Uruguay introduced important changes to the electoral system. Internal elections of political parties, called primary election, were reformed. My submission is that INEC should imbibe the example provided by Uruguay in its electoral reforms by refusing registration of any political party whose constitution does not provide for ADR.
“The commission should demand for the constitution of political parties, and any of them that does not have electoral dispute resolution mechanism and processes should not be given registration. This is the best way to reduce post-election cases in courts,” he said.
He added that the recommendations of the Uwais-led panel are in line with the international best practices, with regard to ADR, and should therefore be incorporated.
“In my view, I believe that by law, all political parties in Nigeria must have ADR provisions and structures in their constitutions and maintain internal democracy,” he added.