IPAC accuses UN of encouraging autocracy in Africa, denounces comment on number of parties

The Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, has denounced the position of the United Nations on the number of political parties in Nigeria.

The council also described the UN position as trecherous and an indication that the global body is encouraging autocracy in Africa.

IPAC however called on the UN to work closely with the Nigerian government and all registered political parties “to further deepen the country’s democracy with a view to enhancing its inclusivity.”

The council stated this in a statement by the chairman of IPAC, Peter Ameh in Abuja on Sunday.

Ameh, who is also the national chairman of Progressive Peoples Alliance, said that the current number of registered political parties in Nigeria had “afforded over 200 million Nigerian citizens the opportunity to be part of the electoral processes in Nigeria.”

“IPAC calls on the UN to concentrate more efforts on the security challenges ravaging and decimating the Nigerian nation and the unprecedented level of unemployment across the federation which are the real threats and which ought to be of great concern to the UN,” Ameh stated.

Read also: Atiku denies planning protest over INEC server

According to Ameh, it was regrettable that the UN could make mockery of the multi-party democracy currently being enjoyed by Nigerians and which was fought for by the country’s eminent jurists, including Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), and guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

“The position of the United Nations, encouraging autocracy in Africa, as stated by the United Nation’s Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, is not only treacherous but threatens the very peace which the United Nations was formed to uphold.

“The UN came into being in 1945, following the devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN does this by working to prevent conflict; helping parties in conflict make peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish.

“It is indeed of great concern to hear Mohammed Ibn Chambas of the United Nations, express such views as he did, during a courtesy call on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in Abuja, on behalf of the UN in this 21st century when democracy and world peace is under threat in most African countries as a result of dictatorships and perceived centralisation of governments as currently witnessed in Nigeria”, Ameh said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now