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Keyamo says INEC cannot proscribe party,
faults FG on loans
By Tolu Olarewaju
Senior
Correspondent, Lagos
Lagos
lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has ruled out the possibility of the Alliance for
Democracy (AD) being proscribed by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) if the lingering leadership tussle between former Osun State
Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, and former Senate Leader, Senator Mojisoluwa
Akinfenwa, is not resolved by the end of October.
Keyamo,
who spoke with Daily Independent in Lagos, was reacting to
speculations that AD stands the risk of being de-registered if it fails to
resolve its factional feud by the end of October as stipulated by the electoral
body. He said INEC has no powers to proscribe any party once registered.
“It
is not possible for INEC to proscribe a party because it has no such powers.
The requirements for the existence of a political party are constitutional
matters. So also are the powers of INEC. Now, INEC cannot go outside the powers
conferred on it by the constitution,” Keyamo said.
The
human rights activist said INEC was engaging in illegalities when at the
beginning of the feud it gave the party four options before the stalled
national convention of the party could be recognised.
“If
the two factions exist up till election time, I think the only extent INEC can
go, to my mind, is to refuse to recognise the candidates of both factions. But
it has to field the party. That is, it has to still recognise the party but not
the candidates. If at the end of the day, the party wins the seat, the
candidates can go to court to establish who the right candidate for that post
is. That was what INEC did in Anambra during the 2003 senatorial
election,” the lawyer said.
Keyamo
also faulted Federal Government’s decision to grant loans to some African
countries, saying the facilities have financial and social implications for the
Nigerian economy. He also argued that due process was not followed by the
Federal Government in granting the loans.
“The
approval by the National Assembly for that executive decision was done
retroactively; it was a retroactive approval. The constitution says money bills
must go to the National Assembly and must go through first, second, and third
readings just like the Appropriation Bill. But in this case, the President has
already given the loan before forcing it down the throat of the National
Assembly in an insulting manner.
“The President’s action is not only illegal,
economically and socially, it is a disaster.
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