The Independent National Electoral Commission has confirmed that 107 groups have approached it for registration as political parties.
This is less than two years after the commission deregistered 74 political parties due to their poor performance in the 2019 general elections.
Responding to a Freedom of Information request sent by Sunday PUNCH, the Deputy Director, SERVICOM at INEC, Olayide Okuonghae, said between 2019 and December 14, 2021, about 101 political associations had applied for registration.
The letter read in part, “About your letter dated December 9, 2021, the commission wishes to inform you that from 2019 to December 14, 2021, a total of 101 political associations have forwarded their letters of intent to be registered as political parties.”
Also confirming the development, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, told PUNCH that these associations had not been approved as political parties.
He said, “So far, a total of 101 associations have submitted their letters of intent to be registered as political parties. However, a letter of intent does not amount to an application for registration. An association can only be said to have applied when such application is in the prescribed form.
“The INEC designed application form is only issued after an association has received clearance on its proposed name, logo, acronym, and address in Abuja and has also paid the required fee of N1m to obtain the form.”
The number of political parties in the country dropped to 18 when INEC deregistered the political parties.
