INEC needs to respect all parties irrespective of size.
The position canvassed by the four parties came against the backdrop of the recent auditing of the accounts of the parties conducted by the INEC.
Section 225(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that "every political party shall, at such times and in such manner as the Independent National Electoral Commission may require, submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission and publish a statement of its assets and liabilities."
Section 225(2) also states that "every political party shall submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission, a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of expenditure in such forms as the commission may require."
The auditing conducted by the INEC was necessitated particularly by the monetary disbursement made by the Electoral body shortly before the 2003 polls when some parties got about N9 million.
Sources in INEC said that most of the 30 political parties did not satisfactory answer questions pertaining to how they spent their allocations.
It has, however, been said that parties that have so far not made impact at the elections need to be assisted with annual grants to facilitate their activities. Mr. Patrick Nwankwo Ikwueto (SAN), said in Abuja that it was in the interest of the ruling political party that there should be a vibrant opposition in order to promote good democratic culture.
Although he endorsed the agitation of the parties for the annual grants, he challenged them to work out strategies in line with their programmes and ideologies to convince Nigerians on what they stand for. He said that most Nigerians do not know about a majority of the registered parties.
Ikwueto said that since the nation's democracy is fashioned after the practice in U.S., there was need for an independent government agency to fund parties. He said that however, the parties must remain independent of the party in government. He said in the United Kingdom, individuals make donations to parties, but they are required to report to the Electoral Commission where they have made small donations like �200 or less.
Where the donation exceeds �200, it is the responsibility of the recipient to report to the Commission. Companies may also donate to parties, but subsidiaries and foreign owned companies have restrictions and such requirements are placed by the Companies Act. He noted that other forms of donations include voluntary activities by supporters of such parties.
In the UK, permissible donors are individuals registered in the electoral register, registered political parties, registered trade unions, registered building society, a registered limited liability partnership and a registered based incorporated association.
Parties are prohibited from accepting donations of more than �200 other than from the above sources. Any donations more than �200 from an impermissible source must be returned, and donations from unidentifiable sources cannot be accepted.
Unlike in the UK where parties do not enjoy subventions from governments, parties in the U.S. receive subventions from the Federal Government sources.
Reports on party activities for 1997-98 in the U.S. show that parties received substantial financial subventions. The report titled "FEC Reports on political party activity for 1997-98" stated that the Republican and Democratic parties continue to raise large amounts of non-federal or "soft money."
The Director of Public Affairs of INEC, Mr. Steve Osemeke, confirmed that the commission sent some estimates of financial subventions for funding of parties to the National Assembly, but that nothing was approved in the budget for the political parties.
National Chairman of the APLP, Chief Emmanuel Okereke, said that INEC was doing the bidding of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government by starving other parties of funds in a bid to foist a one party state on the country.
Alhaji Tank Yakassai, a First Republic politician said things were different then regarding the funding of parties. In his recently published book, Tanko Yakassai: The story of a humble life, he stated that the parties funded their activities.
"Apart from courses directly organised by the party, wherever there was an opportunity, NEPU used to send its leaders on other courses, seminars or symposia. The first time party leaders took part in such courses was in 1956 at Ibadan University College, undergoing a course on comparative federalism under a programme arranged by the Department of Extra Mural Studies of that University. Representatives of all major political parties, trade unions, native authorities, as well as members of the national and regional legislators and even some traditional rulers took part in that course.
"Those who attended the course from NEPU included Mallam Aminu Kano, M.K. Ahmed, Sami Darma, Ango Soba and myself. Among prominent Nigerian lecturers who presented papers on different topics were Professor Olumbe Bashir, Professor Ayo Ogunsheye and Professor Oluwasanmi. Some leading constitutional experts from Britain, Canada and U.S. also presented papers during the symposia...
"Apart from sending its members to courses, NEPU also participated in many international conferences. The first of such conferences was the first All-Africa People Conference held in Accra, Ghana, in 1958..."
According to Yakassai, it was at such conferences that party men established contacts with party men and international figures form several countries. "It was at that conference that I saw people like Oginga Odinga, Tom Mboya, John Ochwada, Joseph Micjobi and Dr. Kiyano from KANU of Kenya; Hasan Muhsein and Oscar Kambora of Tanganyika African National Union, (TANU), Dr. Kamuzu Banda of Nyasaland (Malawi)," he said.
Explaining the importance of such continental interactive sessions, he stated, "it was also at that Conference that the foundation for a co-ordinated blueprint for struggle for African freedom was laid. Two years after the conference, about half a dozen former colonial territories in Africa gained their independence. When the French tested atomic bomb in the Sahara, another conference was summoned in Accra in 1960 to mobilise African peoples to protect the French action. This time around, the Action Group was represented at the conference in addition to the NEPU, NCNC, and the TUC...
"The usual period of extreme hardship for NEPU leadership was always after an election. As soon as the elections were over and the party was defeated, the NCNC that was providing financial assistance would stop sending any money until a new election was around the corner. Secondly, whenever we lost an election, the morale of our supporters would sink to its low ebb. The headquarters of the party would be deserted. Only a handful of party supporters would be seen around."
It is imperative that parties receive funding, as the constitution requires. It is equally imperative, that such funds must be properly accounted for as constitutionally equally required.
