The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that 14 associations have been cleared to proceed to the next stage of their applications to be registered as political parties in Nigeria.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who disclosed this on Thursday, after the commission’s meeting, said that 171 applications were received.
He explained that 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.
“In addition to reviewing our preparations for forthcoming off-cycle governorship elections and the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the meeting also considered the report of its Committee on the Review of Letters of Intent from associations seeking registration as political parties.
“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,” said Olumekun.
The associations cleared are the African Transformation Party (ATP), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Advance Nigeria Congress (ANC), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), and the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA).
Others are the Grassroots Initiative Party (GRIP), Green Future Party (GFP), Liberation People’s Party (LPP), National Democratic Party (NDP),
National Reform Party (NRP), Patriotic Peoples Alliance (PPA), Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
Commission Invites Chairmen, Secretaries
Meanwhile, INEC has invited the interim chairmen and secretaries of the pre-qualified associations to a briefing on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 11 am at its headquarters in Abuja.
It said that in addition to uploading the required information to the portal, it would physically verify all claims by each association in line with our regulations and guidelines.
INEC said that the final determination of the registrability of the associations as political parties would be made after the physical verification of all their claims to determine compliance with the legal framework.
It also reiterated that party registration was a continuous process under the law, adding that INEC remains open to the consideration of applications that meet the criteria as provided by law.
In June, 2025, INEC confirmed receiving letters of intent from over 100 associations seeking registration as political parties.
Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this, noted that the requests were being processed in line with the relevant laws and the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines.
“As of Monday, June 23, 2025, the Commission has received letters of intent from 110 associations that wish to register as political parties. We are diligently processing the requests in line with the procedure outlined in the law as well as our regulations and guidelines.
“We have acknowledged all requests received. So far, we have acknowledged all applications received, except for six, which were submitted recently. These will be acknowledged before the end of the week,” Yakubu said.
He also urged Nigerians, especially those interested in registering political parties, to consult the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, available on its website
