Ahead of the 2019 General Election the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre (PPLPDC) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, has commenced trainings for National Legal Offices of the nation’s registered political parties.
The ‘train the trainers’ workshop holding in Abuja and themed, “Training of Legal Officers of Political Parties on Strategies to Improve Compliance with Extant Laws on Inclusivity” was organised with the European Union (EU).
The event was aimed at strengthening the electoral processes and successes of the 2019 General Elections.
The acting Director General of NIPSS Mr. Jonathan Mela Juma, said Nigeria is not short of electoral laws and policies which seek to promote inclusivity and enhancement of the fundamental principles of political parties, including the 1999 Constitution, the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) and INEC Gender Policy.
“Another important policy in this regard is the Code of Conduct of Political Parties, a document voluntarily signed by the 68 registered political parties in Abuja. As key institutions of democracy, political parties mobilise citizens and work to guarantee the representation of the public on inclusive basis.
“Despite the existence of these laws and policies however, there is still a glaring lack of internal democracy in Nigeria political parties, which manifest especially in the exclusion of key segment of the society such as women, youth and people living with disabilities,” Juma said.
The Director of Research and Chief Operating Officer of the NIPSS-PPLPDC, Prof. Habu Galadima, stressed the importance of the parties legal officers to work with the Leadership of the parties to ensure compliance with extant laws of the land to avoid frictions and other acts capable of making the parties run fouls of the laws.
“This forum is also to profer strategies on how the parties can entrench and improve on compliance with laws on inclusivity and others,” Galadima said.
The National Chairman of IPAC, Hon. Muhammad Nalado represented by the Deputy National Chairman of the council, Mr. Garshon Benson, urged the legal officers to ensure the delivery of the message to the party leaders and members to deepen democracy in the country.
