The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has registered five new political parties which brings the number of political parties in Nigeria to 45.
They are; Young Progressive Party (YPP), Advanced People’s Democratic Alliance (APDA), New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGP), All Democratic People’s Movement (ADPM) and Action Democratic Party (ADP).
INEC made the announcement in Kaduna on Wednesday evening after several hours of the commission’s meeting saying only five out of the 95 associations that applied for registration succeeded.
Briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Prince Adedeji Soyebi, revealed that two of the associations had earlier withdrawn their applications voluntarily while the remaining 88 did not meet the requirements for registration as political parties.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its usual weekly meeting today and reviewed, among other things, the on-going nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, which began on 27th April 2017,” he said.
“In the meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and Administrative Secretaries, the Commission received and considered submissions from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as reports from some accredited observers of the CVR exercise.
“The Commission noted the challenges encountered so far, and is addressing them. At present, 95 Associations have applied to the Commission for registration as political parties. Two of the associations voluntarily withdrew their applications.
“The Commission today approved the applications of five of the associations which have fulfilled the constitutional requirements for registration.
“They are: Young Progressive Party (YPP), Advanced People’s Democratic Alliance (APDA), New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGP), All Democratic People’s Movement (ADPM) and Action Democratic Party (ADP).
“With the registration of the above parties, there are now 45 political parties in Nigeria.”
On the Voter Registration, INEC said, “As at Friday 2nd June 2017, a total of 760,989 persons have registered across the country, made up of 59. 5 percent males and 40.5 percent females. So far, 31,808 persons have collected their PVCs while 34, 560 others applied for transfer of Polling Units.
“Due to budgetary constraints, the Commission cannot for now decentralize to the Registration Area level. However, due considerations shall be given to certain areas with peculiar challenges.
“The Commission decided that, in view of the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for 17thNovember 2017, the CVR will be decentralized to the Registration Area (Ward) level from 10th to 16th August, 2017. The same consideration shall be given to Ekiti and Osun states which have governorship elections in 2018.”
