INEC must whittle down political parties, says Folake Solanke SAN

Nigeria’s first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief
‘Folake Solanke, says having 91 political parties is unhealthy for
democracy.

She called for a review of Section 222 of the Electoral Act, and
urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do
something to weed out the political parties to a minimum.

Solanke spoke in Lagos on Friday at a colloquium to commemorate
the 25th anniversary of a law firm, Kenna Partners, where she was
chairperson.

The colloquium’s theme was, ‘Footprints in law and society,
towards a paradigm shift.’

Solanke said: “Something must be done so that they weed the
political parties to a minimum.

“In the United States of America, there are two political
parties but in Nigeria, 91 political parties; out of the 91, 80 of
them want to be President. So, something is wrong with our
Electoral Act; we must go and look at Section 222 and do something
about it.”

The anniversary lecturer, Justice Amina Augie of the Supreme
Court, identified the amended Section 285 of the constitution,
which stipulates that election petition must be determined in 180
days, as “one of the extraordinary footprints in Nigeria’s
electoral jurisprudence.”

Justice Augie stressed that accountability was foundational to
good governance, adding that political office holders must build
institutions.

One of the panelists, Mr Damian Dodo (SAN), called for a review
of the academic requirement for becoming a legislator.

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