By Balarabe Oshiafi
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released new supplementary regulations for the review of election results and provided an update on the growing number of applications from associations seeking to register as political parties.
The press statement, signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voters Education Committee, Sam Olumekun on Thursday, confirmed that INEC’s regular weekly meeting addressed the need for greater clarity on the process of reviewing election declarations and returns.
Addressing the surge in associations seeking registration INEC reported a significant increase in applications for new political parties. Just last Monday, report says, the Commission announced it had received 110 applications. As at Wednesday, 2nd July 2025, an additional 12 applications have been submitted, bringing the total number of associations seeking registration to 122. The list of these new applications, including the names of the associations, their acronyms, addresses, and details of their interim chairmen and secretaries, has also been made public on INEC’s platforms.
The Commission noted a recent incident where one association had already changed its interim secretary due to a defection to another group. INEC appealed to all aspiring political parties to “maintain consistency of their proposed leadership and addresses so that they do not by their own actions cause a delay to the timely consideration of their applications.” The Commission stated that it is processing these applications “transparently and in fairness to all applicants,” in accordance with the Electoral Act and the Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
About new guidelines for election result review, the umpire highlighted that Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 grants the Commission powers to review election declarations and returns that are not made voluntarily or are found to be contrary to established law, regulations, and guidelines. Due to varying interpretations of this section, INEC has now exercised its authority to issue detailed “Supplementary No.1 to the main Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2022.”
These new guidelines establish clear procedures and timelines for the review process. The full details have been uploaded to INEC’s official website and other public platforms “for transparency”.
