INEC Shortlists ADA, 13 Other Associations to Proceed for Registration as Political Parties
Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released the list of 14 associations that have qualified to proceed to the next stage of application to be registered as political parties.
The list includes the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) backed by key opposition politicians in Nigeria.
Earlier INEC had announced that it had received applications from 171 associations seeking registration as political parties.
According to a statement released on Thursday by INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Sam Olumekun, indicates that the shorlist was ratified at the commission’s regular meeting held earlier on Thursday September 11, 2025.
According to the statement, “The Commission held its regular meeting today, Thursday 11th September 2025. In addition to reviewing our preparations for forthcoming off-cycle governorship elections and the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the meeting also considered the report of its Committee on the Review of Letters of Intent from associations seeking registration as political parties.”
The commission assured Nigerians that it was committed to ensuring that all qualified associations seeking registration is assessed based on laid down rules without any prejudice.
Part of the statement reads:
“ A total of 171 requests for registration were received. Each request was assessed on the basis of its prima facie compliance with the provisions of Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 79 (1, 2 and 4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Clause 2 (i and ii) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
“Out of the total number of applications received, 14 associations have met the requirements to proceed to the next stage while 157 have not. The Commission shall officially communicate the decision arising from today’s meeting to all the associations in the next 24 hours.
“Meanwhile, the list of the 14 pre-qualified associations has been published on our website and other official platforms for public information.
“The interim Chairmen and Secretaries of the pre-qualified associations are invited to a briefing on Wednesday 17th September 2025 at 11am at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.
“In addition to uploading the required information to the portal, the will physically verify all claims by each association in line with our Regulations and Guidelines.
“The final determination of the registrability of the associations as political parties will be made after the physical verification of all their claims to determine compliance with the legal framework.
“We wish to reiterate that party registration is a continuous process under the law. The Commission remains open to the consideration of applications that meet the criteria as provided by law.
