The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that the commission is currently processing 101 applications for new political parties ahead of the 2023 general elections.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye, in an interview with Daily Trust, said several political associations are seeking to register as political parties.
The commission, in February 2020, had deregistered 74 political parties due to their poor performance in the 2019 general elections.
The national commissioner said the registration and deregistration of political parties is a constitutional, legal and administrative matter.
“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.
