Ripples over the breach of the Electoral Act by political parties continued to reverberate yesterday as the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to wield the big stick against  political parties which use third parties to carry out their campaigns, arguing that the action is against the letters of the Electoral Act.

Third parties campaigns are mostly carried by the allies of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and campaigners of President Goodluck Jonathan like the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and other Pro-Jonathan campaigners that are calling on the president to declare interest in the 2015 presidential election.

INEC had Monday declared that it would  take necessary action against such associations, corporate bodies, individuals, political parties, media or other communication agencies, social media, candidates/aspirants that contravene the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and/or Electoral Act 2010 on public campaigns/rallies and processions.

In a statement dated  September 26 and titled: ‘Caution on Illegal Public Political Broadcast And Campaign’ and addressed to all the national chairmen of  registered political parties, corporate entities, associations and the public, the commission said its attention had been drawn to the insistent illegal campaigns carried out by associations, corporate entities, individuals, public and private media and other communication agencies in the country in contravention of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2010  on limitation of political broadcasts

IPAC Chairman, Tanko Yinusa, who condemned the use of third parties in campaigning, spoke at the quarterly meeting of INEC and registered political parties yesterday at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja.
The IPAC chairman told the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, that the council at its last meeting on September 26, condemned  the new system of campaign whereby political parties use third party machineries to carry out their campaigns.

He also said senior government officials in power were behind the violation of the electoral guidelines, which he explained  stipulates that election campaign must start 90 days before the election.

The IPAC chairman, while urging INEC to as a matter of urgency, stop the third party campaign, disclosed that the council had given its total support to the proposal by INEC to create about 30,000 new polling units across the country, stressing that it was long overdue, especially with the increase in the population as well as other new settlements.

He, however, urged the commission to ensure that it observed equity and ensuring that it was strictly on areas of need while distributing the polling units, while calling on INEC to ensure that candidates of all registered political parties that are vying for any elective position in Nigeria is given equal opportunity in the media to sell their campaign promises to Nigerians.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Jega noted that the commission’s quarterly meeting with the registered political parties would now be conducted  every month, adding that  the desire of the commission and the political parties to constantly deliberate on how to make the forthcoming election free, fair, credible and widely accepted by majority of Nigerians and international community has given rise to the decision to meet every month.

He added that moving down the meeting from quarterly to monthly would make the commission and the political parties deliberate extensively on issues of mutual concerns, especially with regards to preparing for the 2015 general election.

“This quarterly meeting had helped us in the past in discussing issues of urgency, and  I am very sure that moving it down to monthly will improve communication between INEC and registered political parties, as well as enhance mutual trust and confidence.

“It will also afford us a better opportunity to deliberate and resolve all matters arising in relation to the preparation swiftly as and when due,” Jega noted.

The INEC Chairman  while stressing on the need for all the registered political parties to collaborate fully with the commission towards ensuring the conduct of an election that would be rated with internationally acclaim standards that is devoid of violence in 2015 has necessitated the monthly meeting which he noted would focus mainly on draft guidelines on campaign and rallies, issues regarding the new polling units, and procedures for the conduct of party’s primaries.

Meanwhile,  the All Progressives Congress (APC) has berated INEC for acting too little and too late by issuing a warning on illegal public political broadcast and campaign, saying the commission’s belated action is highly suspicious.

The APC in a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said INEC’s action, coming after the PDP and President Jonathan had been campaigning endlessly for the 2015 elections, can only be to the disadvantage of other candidates and political parties.

‘’Is it a ploy by INEC to give undue advantage to the PDP and its adopted sole presidential candidate, President Jonathan, in next year’s elections?’’ It queried

The APC wondered where INEC was when the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) was organising noisy rallies across the country, attended by government officials and designed to benefit President Jonathan and his party, the PDP.

The party also expressed shock that INEC had been in a deep slumber since the so-called Protectors of Nigeria’s Posterity have been running adverts on television solely for the benefit of President Jonathan in next year’s elections.

‘’When did INEC become aware that these actions are illegal, considering that Section 221 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which INEC quoted in its warning letter, says ‘no association, other than a political party, shall canvas for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any political candidate at an election’,’’ APC State.

The party said what TAN has been doing all along was to canvass for votes for President Jonathan, in a clear violation of the Constitution as well as the Electoral Act, which bans political campaigns until 90 days before election.

‘’Our party, joined by well-meaning Nigerians, had publicly alerted INEC to these campaigns and the fact that those behind them are breaking the law, but INEC merely responded with some unbelievable sophistry. Now that those illegal campaigns have run for several months, INEC suddenly awoke from its slumber to issue a warning on illegal campaign.

‘’This is unbecoming of an election umpire that expects to be taken seriously, an umpire that is expected not only to be fair but to be seen as such, and one that knows its onions. This caution by INEC is coming too little, too late,’’ APC said