Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has confirmed receiving letters of intent from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties in Nigeria.
INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu revealed this during quarterly consultative meeting with media executives at the commission headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to him, the requests have been duly acknowledged except for six, noting that the pending requests are being processed in accordance with the Electoral Act, as well as INEC’s 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
“As at Monday, 23rd June 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.
Commenting on the criticisms suggesting that the Commission may show bias in handling the party registration process, Mr Yakubu described such claims as “unfounded and misleading”.
He recalled how similar accusations were made against the commission in the build-up to the merger of some opposition parties in 2013.
Mr Yakubu noted that his administration holds the record for registering the highest number of political parties in Nigeria’s history.
“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,” Mr Yakubu added.
