From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has finally approved for registration, 14 new Political Parties to join the already existing registered political parties in Nigeria.
It could be recalled that, out of the total number of 171 requests for registration. “Each request was assessed on the basis of its prima facie compliance with the provisions of Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 79 (1, 2 and 4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Clause 2 (i and ii) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
“Out of the total number of applications received, 14 associations have met the requirements to proceed to the next stage while 157 have not. The Commission shall officially communicate the decision arising from today’s meeting to all the associations in the next 24 hours.
“Meanwhile, the list of the 14 pre-qualified associations has been published on our website and other official platforms for public information”, it said.
Similarly, the Commission has called on all the interim Chairmen and Secretaries of the pre-qualified associations for a briefing on Wednesday 17th September, 2025 at 11am at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.
In addition to uploading the required information to the portal, the Commission will physically verify all claims by each association in line with the Regulations and Guidelines.
The final determination of the registrability of the associations as political parties will be made after the physical verification of all their claims to determine compliance with the legal framework.
It therefore, reiterated that party registration is a continuous process under the law. The Commission remains open to the consideration of applications that meet the criteria as provided by law.