The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that 14 associations have been cleared to proceed to the next stage of their applications to be registered as political parties in Nigeria.

The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who disclosed this on Thursday, after the commission’s meeting, said that 171 applications were received.

He explained that 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.

“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.

“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,” said Olumekun.

The associations cleared are the African Transformation Party (ATP), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Advance Nigeria Congress (ANC), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), and the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA).

Others are the Grassroots Initiative Party (GRIP), Green Future Party (GFP), Liberation People’s Party (LPP), National Democratic Party (NDP),
National Reform Party (NRP), Patriotic Peoples Alliance (PPA), Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).