The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 14 associations have been cleared to proceed to the next stage of their applications to be registered as political parties in Nigeria.
This decision follows the commission’s review of 171 applications, as disclosed by Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, during a briefing on Thursday.
Olumekun explained that each application was evaluated based on compliance with Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), Section 79 (1, 2, and 4) of the Electoral Act 2022, and Clause 2 (i and ii) of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022. Of the 171 applications received, 14 associations met the requirements to move forward, while 157 were deemed non-compliant.
The cleared associations include 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), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), 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), and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).INEC stated that the list of pre-qualified associations has been published on its website and other official platforms for public information.
The commission will formally notify all applicants of its decisions within the next 24 hours.
The announcement comes as INEC continues preparations for upcoming off-cycle governorship elections and the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The commission’s rigorous evaluation process underscores its commitment to ensuring only qualified associations advance in Nigeria’s political party registration process.