Political Parties Shun INEC's Code Of Conduct

Political Parties Shun INEC's Code Of Conduct

Some political party leaders in Lagos have given different reasons why their parties did not sign the code of conduct for the April polls.

The party leaders met in Abuja on Tuesday to sign a revised copy of the code of conduct on campaigns, elections, post election issues and party finances.

Only 47 out of the 63 registered political parties in Nigeria signed the document prepared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The code of conduct

The Code of Conduct provides that no political party should use state resources for its activities.

It also forbids political parties and their agents from forcible occupation or invasion of a polling station, collation centre or INEC office.

The document also prohibits political parties or candidates from using its power of incumbency to prevent other parties or candidates from pasting their posters or distributing their leaflets, among others.

Reasons for refusal

Explaining the reason for not signing the document, the Presidential Candidate of the African Renaissance Party (ARP), Alhaji Yahaya Ndu said the document was meaningless.

“The code of conduct was originally written in 2007 and no article of it was observed.

“Things that the code of conduct was meant to achieve have already been violated,'' Ndu, who is also the Chairman of the party, told newsmen.

National Chairman of Action Alliance (AA), Senator Suleiman Salau, said that his party did not sign the code of conduct because the party was not informed of the ceremony.

Salau, however, said the code of conduct was in order as it was the wish of politicians that INEC conducted free and fair polls in April.

National Chairman of the Advanced Congress for Democrats (ACD), Mallam Yusuf Buba, said that some parties did not agree to sign the document because of a missing clause.

He noted that some of the political parties' leaders later agreed it should be signed.

Parties' views excluded

National Chairman of the National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP), Chief Udemba Chukwudelue, whose party signed the document, said some parties refused to sign because their views were not accommodated.

According to him, it was resolved at a meeting in Calabar that parties should channel their inputs to the code of conduct through their executives.

He noted that exclusion of those contributions were not included in the final document, resulting in the refusal of some parties to sign it.

NAN/Williams/Ekata