By Balarabe Oshiafi
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has announced that out of 171 requests received for political party registration, 14 associations have met the requirements to proceed to the next stage while 157 have not.
In a news release signed by the umpire’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, and made available to ExpressDay Newspaper INEC said each request was assessed in compliance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“A total of 171 requests for registration were received. 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.
“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 statement read.
The Commission said it shall officially communicate the development to all the associations in the next 24 hours, adding that the list of the 14 pre-qualified associations has been published on its website and other official platforms for public information.
INEC disclosed that the interim Chairmen and Secretaries of the pre-qualified associations are invited to a briefing on Wednesday 17th September 2025 at 11am at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.
The electoral management body said in addition to uploading the required information to the portal, it will physically verify all claims by each association in line with our Regulations and Guidelines.
“The final determination of the registrability of the associations as political parties will be made after the physical verification of all their claims to determine compliance with the legal framework.
“We wish to reiterate that party registration is a continuous process under the law. The Commission remains open to the consideration of applications that meet the criteria as provided by law”, INEC stated.
