Ahead of the bye-elections slated for February 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the verification of the status of political parties in the country, News About Nigeria reports.
The verification by the commission was disclosed by the Director of Election and Party Monitoring of INEC, Hawa Habibu, when she led INEC’s Election and Party Monitoring Team on a visit to the Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), where they were received by the party chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
During the visit, the director stated that the visit to political parties was part of INEC’s annual verification of political parties as enshrined in the constitution.
Habibu further noted that the visit is to enable the Commission to find out if political parties adhere to the principles guiding them as provided by the constitution.
She also added that, during such visits, any politician found wanting or who is not working in compliance with the laws that guide them with regards to their number, party structure in terms of their office in Abuja, auditing of their finances, and other issues would be severely punished according to the law.
Habibu also explained that, according to the provisions of the Electoral Acts, the structure of a party membership must be a minimum of 24 members.
The Director of Election and Party Monitoring of INEC further stated that the Commission is excited to be carrying out the assignment again, as the last time they did such a verification visit was in 2019.
She further explained that they were not able to do so in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, and in 2021 and 2022, the Commission was busy putting measures in place to ensure that the 2023 general elections were hitch-free.
