THE Chairman of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ask the National Assembly to adopt a law, which will make money politics in Nigeria a crime, in order to strengthen the nation’s democracy.

Musa also commended the appointment of Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the new chairman of INEC.
The CNPP chairman in a statement issued Tuesday said that unless Nigeria was purged from money politics, the future of democracy is endangered.

He stated that: “The CNPP wishes to draw the attention of the new chairman of INEC that it is extremely difficult for the electoral umpire to conduct free, fair and transparent election leading to a legitimate government at every level when money power plays the leading role in politics.
“INEC is not sufficiently independent to conduct elections. The new chairman should be able to draw the attention of the National Assembly to the necessary amendments of the 1999 Constitution to ensure democracy and free and fair elections.”

Musa also explained that, “the relationships between INEC and political parties, which started very well during the first year of Prof. Jega’s administration deteriorated so much that there are now so many court actions against INEC by deregistered political parties as a result of abuse of section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by INEC in spite of Federal High Court judgment in favour of Fresh Democratic Party (FDP), Federal High Court judgment in favour of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and Federal Court of Appeal judgment in favour of National Conscious Party (NCP).”

However, he added that, “INEC should be enable to conform with practices in all democratic countries where the fate of political parties and election candidates is decided by the electorate in a free and fair election.”