By Euclid Myke, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it received applications from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties with details of their proposed names, acronyms, addresses and the names of their protem Chairmen and Secretaries.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the disclosure on Wednesday at the Commission’s office in Abuja during the second quarterly meeting with the media executives.
He said, “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”.
He also said that the Commission is ready to conduct the bye-elections to fill positions that were declared vacant just as it is also ready to commence nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). He said that details of the political associations, as well as details of the by-elections and CVR will be made public in the next 24 hours on the commission’s website for transparency and public consumption.
“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” the INEC boss said.
He further confirmed that the Federal Capital Territory council election and Anambra State governorship election will hold on Saturday, November 21, 2026, and 8th November 2025, adding that the Timetable and Schedule of Activities will be published on the INEC website.
“As you are aware, the election will be held in 68 constituencies made up of Chairmen and their Deputies for the six Area Councils, namely Abaji, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali as well as 62 Wards drawn on the basis of 10 Wards for each Area Council, except AMAC which has 12 Wards on account of its population. The full delimitation details for the FCT are available on our website”.
“The second electoral activity is the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship election. Again, as you are already aware, campaign in public by political parties commenced exactly two weeks ago on 11th June 2025 and will continue until midnight of Thursday 6th November 2025 i.e. 24 hours prior to Election Day” he said.
The INEC boss appealed for prompt upload of applications for media accreditation for the Anambra State Governorship election holding on Saturday 8th November 2025 as soon as the portal opens so that INEC can process and deliver accreditation tags ahead of the election.
