2023: We are working to register 101 fresh political parties – INEC

Ahead of 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said, it was processing 101 fresh applications from political associaions to register them as political parties.

INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Barrister Festus Okoye disclosed this in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said what they were doing is a constitutional duty even as they were bound to register and deregister political parties by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.

It is recalled that in less than two years ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission deregistered 74 political parties from its register due to non-performance in elections.

“Sections 221 to 229 of the constitution lay down the threshold for the registration of political associations.

“The commission is under a constitutional and legal obligation to register political associations that meet the qualifying threshold. The commission does not exercise authoritarian discretion in the registration of political parties.

“The Constitution, the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and the Regulations and Guidelines of the commission remain the guiding instruments and documents for party registration. Any political association that meets the constitutional, legal and administrative criteria set out in the constitutive legal instruments will be registered.

“Any registered political party that falls off the radar of the threshold in Section 225A of the constitution will be deregistered. The commission is a public trust and its actions and activities are governed by the constitution and the law,” he said.