The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 14 associations have been cleared to advance to the next stage of their applications for registration as political parties in Nigeria.
During a meeting on Thursday, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, revealed that out of 171 applications received, only 14 met the necessary requirements.
Olumekun explained that each application was evaluated based on its compliance with 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,” he stated.
Of the total applications, 157 were not approved, and the Commission will communicate its decisions to all associations within the next 24 hours. The list of the 14 pre-qualified associations has been published on INEC’s official website and other platforms for public access.
The associations cleared for the next stage 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).
In a related development, INEC has invited the interim chairmen and secretaries of the pre-qualified associations to a briefing scheduled for Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 11 am at its headquarters in Abuja. The Commission emphasized that it would verify all claims made by each association in accordance with its regulations and guidelines.
INEC reiterated that party registration is an ongoing process under the law and remains open to applications that meet the established criteria.
In June 2025, INEC confirmed receiving letters of intent from over 100 associations seeking registration as political parties. Chairman Mahmood Yakubu noted that the requests are being processed in accordance with relevant laws and the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines.
“As of June 23, 2025, we have received letters of intent from 110 associations wishing to register as political parties. We are diligently processing these requests in line with the outlined procedures,” Yakubu stated.
He encouraged Nigerians interested in registering political parties to consult the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, available on its website.
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