2023: IPAC mulls integrity check on aspirants

The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has said it was determined to carry out an integrity check on aspirants that would be seeking elective offices in the next general elections in the country.

Chairman IPAC, Dr Leonard Nzenwa made the disclosure on Thursday during the second Consultative meeting with political parties organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

IPAC is the umbrella body of registered political parties in Nigeria.

Dr Nzenwa said the forum was worried by crises of integrity, such as submission of fake academic certificates, fraternity with hoodlums who perpetrate violence during party primaries and general elections.

The IPAC chairman said the forum of political parties has since opened a discussion with the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria to help mitigate the unwholesome development.

He said: “We are not also unaware of massive bashing by the political class in the country in recent months by Nigerians over crude behaviour and uncultured actions by some politicians who in their bid to win elections have deployed all kinds of unorthodox antics to cow opponents and threaten the system including extremity of violence and killings that accompany it.

“As party managers, we have not swept these concerns under the carpet as we are convinced that why this has continued to thrive is partly on account of dearth of credible, quality, patriotic and selfless individuals with impeccable democratic credentials to drive the push for organic and representative democracy in the country.

“To this end, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, which I am privileged to lead is in the advanced partnership discussion stage with the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria to help strengthen the capacity of political parties to conduct proper and professional due diligence on aspirants seeking to contest for various positions under the platforms of the various parties in the country before and after elections.

“We are hopeful that this effort will yield positive result as deep professional background checks exercised on aspirants to ascertain their integrity, credibility and electoral worth before and after polls with further scrutiny by security agencies and other stakeholders will help the polity. This will support the parties to have a rancor free party primary.”

On the activities of arsonists against the facilities owned by INEC, particularly in the South-South and South-East states, the IPAC commended the resilience of Professor Mahmood Yakubu led electoral body to ensure that the nefarious activities of hoodlums did not undermine its expansion of Polling Units, the Continuous Voters Registration exercises and preparation for off-season elections.

The Chairman of the INEC in his opening remarks restated his admonition to political parties to seek to inspire internal democracy in their respective parties.

“On this note, I would like to remind political parties about the recent letters written to you by the Commission on the imperative of complying with the provisions of the law as well as our regulations governing the conduct of party primaries and nomination of candidates. The Commission is not happy that candidates for elections are now being determined through litigation long after elections have been concluded and winners declared by INEC. The problem lies squarely with the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates by some political parties. We urge you to hold yourselves to the same high standard of free, fair, and credible elections that you hold INEC in all elections. You must ensure strict compliance with your party Constitutions, the law and the Commission’s regulations and guidelines on party primaries in particular and the management of party affairs in general. “After all, Nigerians only exercise their democratic right to elect leaders from the candidates presented by political parties. Electing good leaders begins with the quality of primaries conducted by political parties. We will do our part to ensure that our elections continue to improve.

“May I also draw your attention to your obligation under Sections 92 (3) and 93(4) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which require political parties to submit to the Commission their election expenses reports within six months and election contribution report within three months after the declarations of the result of an election. We have reminded political parties of these obligations in respect of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections held last year.

However, only seven out of 14 political parties have responded in the case of Edo State and 8 out of seventeen for Ondo State. We wish to remind political parties of the consequences of the failure to do so as enshrined in the Electoral Act.

We, therefore, expect all defaulting parties to comply in earnest as you prepare for forthcoming elections.

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