Reps reject bill on five-party state

The federal house of representatives has rejected a bill to limit the number of political parties in the country to five.

The bill, with the title ‘A bill for an act to alter section 40 of the constitution of FRN, 1999 Cap. C23 laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 to limit number of political parties to five and other related matters (HB 418)’, was sponsored by Ali Muhammed Wudil from Kano state.

It was rejected while it was being read a second time. At present, there are 30 political parties in the country.

The bill, which was debated “passionately”, failed to scale the second hurdle as some lawmakers posited that it would limit room for political participation.