EVEN as the dust raised by its de-registration of 28 political parties on December 13 is yet to settle, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again delisted three more parties, bringing the number to 31.
The parties axed, as announced Friday by the commission in Abuja are African Renaissance Party (ARP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and National Transformation Party (NTP).
This is just as the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) candidate in the 1993 annulled presidential election, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, threw his weight behind the commission's action.
Tofa said: "I support the de-registration of the political parties, because a lot of them are briefcase political parties, whose owners go to collect money every year.
"I went through their list and I can hardly see two of them that are familiar. They are not real political parties, but registration documents that are in briefcases, so I support INEC wholeheartedly."
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) chieftain advised leaders and members of the affected parties to join other political parties, where they could make an impact, if they want to have their views heard or to influence anything.
Tofa added: "Their de-registration will make electioneering process more effective, because people would not be confused. There are real political parties for which people will cast their votes and the confusion of logo and pictures of candidates will be eliminated."
While announcing the delisting of the three parties, INEC said contrary to constitutional requirements, the affected parties have no national executive, no verifiable national headquarters and had failed to win election at any level.
These are the same reasons the commission gave for the earlier de-registration of the 28 parties, an action that is being challenged in court.
The court has fixed March next year for ruling in a case brought by the National Conscience Party (NCP), challenging INEC's legal powers to de-register political parties.
But INEC has insisted that it has the powers to do so, with its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, vowing to deregister more political parties before the 2015 general elections, and also registering new ones that meet the requirements for registration.
