Registration of more parties will deepen democracy — CNPP

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties on Wednesday said the existence of many political parties was good for the growth of the nation’s democracy.
CNPP’s Secretary in Lagos, Olumide Oguntoyinbo, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
He was reacting to the registration of additional political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday.
INEC, in a statement, had announced the registration of 23 additional parties to take the total number of parties to 91.
The commission also announced the extension of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise till August 31.
Oguntoyinbo, while describing the registration as a welcome development, said the step would deepen democracy.
He said democracy was about participation and that the new parties would provide more options for people to express their democratic will.
He said: “The registration of more parties is welcome as it is good news for democracy.
“Democracy is about participation and choices. The new parties will offer new opportunities for people to participate in the democratic space and be part of nation-building.
“In so doing, the nation’s democracy is deepened and when you have a robust democracy, achieving the goals of nationhood is easier.”
Oguntoyinbo said the new parties were formed for the people and urged Nigerians wishing to join based on the ideologies of the parties to do so.
The CNPP secretary urged the new parties to work hard and begin to take steps to familiarise themselves with the people, for acceptability.
He also urged them to embark on membership drive and educate the people about their agenda.
On the extension of the CVR, Oguntoyinbo said INEC had taken a good step.
He said the extension of the deadline would enable people to register for their Permanent Voter Cards.
He, however, urged residents yet to register to take opportunity of the extension to do so, for the sake of their participation in the 2019 general elections.
He said: “This is another opportunity for people, who because of time and convenience, are yet to register for their PVCs to do so.
“It is only if we register that we can vote and elect leaders of our choice.”