Ahead of the 2027 election, the Independent National Electoral Commisson (INEC) on Wednesday confirmed the reception of 110 application from association for registration as political parties, the highest since 2019.

However, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), being piloted by a former chairman of INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega and others could not make it.

The chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, who stated these at the second regular consultative meeting with media executives in Abuja, also reassured Nigerians that under the current situation, it will continue to be guided by law and act with fairness to all associations seeking registration as political parties and will treat all requests fairly irrespective of the status of their promoters, be they ordinary or prominent citizens.

Yakubu’s comments may be a veiled reference to the comment by a former Governor of Kaduna State and one of the promoters of All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Ahmed Nasir El-Rufai when he appeared on PrimeTime on Arise News that INEC may not register the organisation as a political party.

But Yakubu said every application for registration will be treated on merit.

He said, “As at Monday, June 23 2025, the commission has received letters of intent from 110 associations that wish to register as political parties. We are diligently processing the requests in line with the procedure outlined in the law as well as our Regulations 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.

“For emphasis, I wish to inform Nigerians, particularly those interested in registering new political parties, that the handbook containing the Regulations and Guidelines for political parties 2022 is already available on the Commission’s website.

“Clearly, one of the topical issues on election administration in our country today is the status of the letters of intent we received from associations seeking registration as political parties amidst partisan insinuations in some quarters that the commission is equivocating on the matter in a manner that compromises our independence. Nothing can be further from the truth. Nigerians may recall that the same unfounded accusation was made under similar circumstances in 2013 that the Commission was not keen on the proposed merger of political parties because INEC had “merged with the ruling party” at the time.

“For the record, the present commission registered the largest number of political parties in Nigeria strictly following the provision of the electoral legal framework. For the 2019 General Election, there were 91 political parties and 73 presidential candidates. The Commission was criticised in some quarters for registering too many political parties. After the election, the commission also deregistered over 70 political parties as provided by law.

“We wish to reassure Nigerians that under the current situation, we will continue to be guided by law and act with fairness to all associations seeking registration as political parties. We will treat all requests fairly irrespective of the status of their promoters, be they ordinary or prominent citizens. Nigerians will be fully briefed of the actions taken by the Commission every step of the way.

“Meanwhile, the commission is today releasing the full list of the 110 associations seeking registration as political parties indicating their proposed names, acronyms, addresses and the names of their Protem Chairmen and Secretaries.

“I cannot conclude my Remarks without briefing you on the conduct of outstanding bye-elections and the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). I am glad to announce that the commission is now in a position to conduct the bye-elections and to resume the nationwide CVR. The Commission met yesterday and we are finalising the details of the two activities which will be made public in the next 24 hours. As usual we look forward to your support.”

Friday Olokor

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