The Governor of Cross River State, Senator (Prof) Ben Ayade, has decried the proliferation of political parties in the country and called for two strong parties.
He made the call Wednesday at the public hearing on Constitution and Electoral Reform in the South-south States held in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee headed by former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, was inaugurated last October by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami.
According to Governor Ayade who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Ivara Esu, “there are too many political parties, some of which have never won even a councillorship election. We are copying the electoral system of the United States of America, why can’t we also copy them in terms of having two strong political parties?”
The Governor also called for the review of state independent electoral commissions, that accreditation and voting should be carried out simultaneously on election day and decried the winning at all costs mentality of political parties, adding that everything about election is about making choices.
He also condemned the ease with which politicians defect from one party to another, adding there should be stringent rules to prevent easy defections.
He advised that the use of Card reader and adoption of electronic voting should be properly addressed in view of the peculiar challenges the nation is facing in terms of poor electricity supply.
The Reform Committee was also advised to consult the 2014 National Confab report and draw from its richness.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Reform Committee, Senator Nnamani, in his opening remarks, said the essence of the exercise was to allow Nigerians contribute to reforming the electoral system in all its ramifications to improve the integrity of the elections conducted in the country.
He said people should win election through the ballot box and not through the courts.
A Presidential aide on Prosecutions, who represented the Minister for Justice, Chief Okoi Obono Obla, said: “We can’t go far as a country if our electoral system is weak. The Committee was set up to carry out a holistic review of past reforms, deal with conflicting judgments on electoral matters, among others.
“The Committee is consulting broadly,” assuring that the committee’s report will be implemented.
Representatives of various groups and individuals in the South-south states presented papers calling for total reform of the electoral system such as scrapping of the state independent electoral commissions, review method of appointing chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission and funding of the commission, setting up of separate election tribunals to speed up election matters, and the need for election cases to be concluded in court before swearing in of election winners.