The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 14 political associations have met the initial requirements to proceed to the next stage of registration as political parties in Nigeria.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun.

INEC revealed that it received 171 applications from associations seeking registration, adding “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,” the statement noted.

Olumekun noted that their interim chairmen and secretaries will be invited to a briefing scheduled for Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 11:00 am at INEC Headquarters in Abuja.

“The interim Chairmen and Secretaries of the pre-qualified associations are invited to a briefing on Wednesday, 17th September 2025 at 11 am at the commission’s Headquarters in Abuja,” he stated.

INEC emphasised that meeting these initial criteria does not equate to full registration.

The final decision on the registrability of each association will be made after this verification phase to ensure full compliance with the legal framework.

“In addition to uploading the required information to the portal, the commission 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,” Olumekun added.