Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 November 2014
9. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will make representations to the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Ireland raising concerns about the refusal of his country's independent national electoral commission to register the Socialist Party of Nigeria as a political party; his views regarding democratic freedoms in the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44958/14]
View answerWill the Minister make representations to the ambassador of Nigeria to Ireland about the refusal of the electoral commission to register the Socialist Party of Nigeria, despite the SPN meeting all of the requirements in that regard? Does the Minister agree that that refusal indicates a worrying lack of regard for democratic rights and the ability of people to organise politically?
Nigeria will hold presidential and National Assembly elections on 14 February 2015. These will be followed on 28 February by gubernatorial and state assembly elections. We are following developments in Nigeria closely through our embassy in Abuja. I understand that political associations in Nigeria are constitutionally prohibited from functioning as political parties unless they are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. There are strict criteria for registration laid down in a guidelines document issued by the chairman of the commission in March last year.
I am aware of the decision of the electoral commission to reject an application from the Socialist Party of Nigeria for registration as a political party. This matter is now the subject of proceedings in the Nigerian Federal High Court in Abuja. In the circumstances, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specific case. However, as a general point of principle, I have no hesitation in calling for the forthcoming elections in Nigeria to be as inclusive as possible. It is important that they are conducted peacefully, transparently and credibly. The challenge, but also the importance of this, is underlined by the deteriorating security situation in the north east of the country and the violence being perpetrated by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
I welcome that in September the EU committed €15 million to support Nigeria in preparing for these elections, which involve in excess of 70 million registered voters and 150,000 polling stations. I also welcome the decision of the EU to deploy an electoral monitoring mission to monitor the elections. We have nominated a number of Irish observers for appointment to the mission.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. In and of themselves the high requirements of the INEC for registration of a political party represent a barrier to freedom of political association. Among these requirements is payment of a so-called administrative fee of 1 million naira, which is non-refundable, and that the party have members in at least 24 states in addition to Abuja. These requirements have been met by the Socialist Party of Nigeria but none the less the registration has not been allowed. It is illustrative that the registration was not, formally speaking, rejected because the deadline for rejection of the initial application had passed. The reply simply stated that the registration is terminated. This would appear to be a politically motivated decision designed to prevent the Socialist Party of Nigeria participating in the elections and, therefore, is contrary to the statements of the President and others about democratic freedoms and rights within Nigeria.
I understand that the case is currently before the courts and is listed for a second hearing tomorrow, 27 November.
I acknowledge that the case is before the courts but I believe that it would be correct none the less to make representations to the ambassador, without, of course, interfering with an independent court process. Fundamentally, I believe this is a political issue. Nigeria is a rich country in terms of resources and ranks fourth highest in terms of income from crude oil. The elite of Nigeria hold massive wealth. It was recently suggested that the President has personal wealth of $100 million and is the sixth richest leader in Africa. Multinational corporations, particularly oil companies such as Shell, are making profits from Nigeria of up to $8 billion despite being implicated in human rights abuses such as the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists. Side by side with massive poverty, three quarters of Nigeria's population is under 25, 68 million of its young adults are without work and more than half its population is living below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. It appears to me that this is an attempt to prevent a political party representing working-class people standing for socialist ideas challenging the political elite that only serves the interests of the local elite and the multinationals operating within Nigeria.
From an Irish perspective Nigeria has been identified as an emerging high potential growth market in the context of the review of the Government trade, tourism and investment strategy 2010-2015. It is regarded by Enterprise Ireland as the second most important sub-Saharan African market after South Africa. Nigeria is Ireland's largest goods trading partner and largest export market in sub-Saharan Africa. Last year, total merchandise trade was worth more than €500 million and significant amounts of Ireland's exports to Nigeria come from Irish indigenous companies. Ireland's first trade mission to Nigeria took place last year and focused on financial services and education, again supporting Irish jobs and Irish workers. Some 70 Enterprise Ireland client companies are currently engaged in business with Nigeria.
In 1948 the Jews expelled, massacred, destroyed, raped and generally behaved like any other colonialist movement operating in the Middle East and Africa since the beginning of the 19th century.
I am sorry, Deputy, but I was allowing you in on Question No. 9.
As a result of that campaign, 500 Palestinian villages and 11 urban neighbourhoods were destroyed.
Sorry, Deputy.
Nothing much has changed. In regard to the Swedish model and Palestine-----
I am sorry, Deputy, but I was allowing you to put a brief question on Question No. 9. The time for questions has actually expired.
We were late starting.
No, we started on time.
Deputy Wallace has been very patient. He has been in the House since we started.
If the Minister wishes to answer I will allow Deputy Wallace to put his question but very briefly.
