The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has received letters of intent from 110 associations that want to register as political parties.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, spoke on Wednesday at a meeting with the media at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Yakubu said one of the topical issues on election administration in Nigeria today is the status of the letters of intent received from associations seeking registration as political parties.
He said there have been partisan insinuations in some quarters that INEC is addressing the matter in a manner that compromises its independence.
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The chairman said “nothing can be further from the truth”, adding that the present commission registered the largest number of political parties in Nigeria, strictly following the provision of the electoral legal framework.
“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’,” he said.
“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.
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“We wish to reassure Nigerians that under the current situation, we will continue to be guided by law and act fairly 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 on the actions taken by the Commission every step of the way.
“As of 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.”
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Yakubu said those interested in registering new political parties should refer to the handbook containing the regulations and guidelines for political parties 2022 on the commission’s website.
“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.
“For transparency and public information, the list will be uploaded to our website and social media platforms.”
Some of the proposed political parties include Key of Freedom Party, Progressive Obedients Party, National Youth Alliance, Peoples Democratic Congress, All Democratic Alliance, and Advanced Democratic Alliance.
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