THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had received letters of intent from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties ahead of the 2027 general election.
The chairman of the electoral body, Mahmood Yakubu, a professor, disclosed this on Wednesday, June 25, during INEC’s second quarterly consultative meeting with media executives in Abuja.
The commission said as of June 23, it had received letters of intent from 110 associations seeking to register as political parties and was processing the requests according to the law and guidelines.
“We have acknowledged all requests received so far except six of them received recently, which will be done before the end of the week,” the INEC chairman stated.
He promised that the commission would treat all requests equally, regardless of whether the promoters were ordinary or prominent citizens.
The INEC leader dismissed allegations of compromising independence, citing similar claims in 2013.
He noted that all but six of the letters received had been acknowledged and would process the remaining ones by the end of the week.
He also informed that the handbook containing the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties was available on the commission’s website.
Besides, he announced that a list of the 110 associations, including their details, would be published on the commission’s website and social media platforms for transparency.
Yakubu said the commission was prepared to conduct pending by-elections and resume continuous voter registration across the country.
“The commission met yesterday and we are finalising the details of the two activities, which will be made public in the next 24 hours,” he added.
He also said the primaries for the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory were ongoing and scheduled to conclude on June 30..
Some of the associations that are seeking registration as a political party include Key of Freedom Party (KFP), Absolute Congress (ABC), All Grassroots Party (AGP), Congress Action Party (CAP), United Social Democrats (USDP) and National Action Congress Party (NACP).
There are also Great Alliance Party (GAP), New Nigeria Congress (NNC), United Peoples Victory Party (UPVP), Allied Conservative Congress (ACC), Peoples Freedom Party (PFP),, All Nigerians’ Party (AND), Abundant Social Party (ASP), Citizens Party of Nigeria (CPN), National Freedom Party (NFP) and Patriots Party (PP).
The list also includes the Accelerated African Development Association (AADA), Obidient Peoples Party (OPP), the Movement of the People (MOP), Peoples National Congress (PNC), the African Union Congress (AUC), Alliance of Patriots (AOP), Socialist Equality Party (SEP), About Nigeria Party (ABNP), and African Reformation Party (ARP)
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