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About 120 political parties that showed interest in registration ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general elections have been excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), INEC has since approved 18 political parties since 2020 during the last deregulation to trim down the number of irrelevant parties in the country. Sources say that if there are no addition then just 18 political parties will feature at the next general elections in 2023.
It was gathered that by December 2021, about 100 political parties had showed interest apart from the previous 20 but many of them couldn't scale through the hurdle by INEC. The Deputy Director, SERVICOM at INEC, Olayide Okuonghae, in his address to pressmen said the 10O associations applied between 2019 and December 14, 2021. His address reads in part, "In reference to your letter dated December 9, 2021, the commission wishes to inform you that from 2019 to December 14, 2021, a total of 101 political associations forwarded their letters of intent to be registered as political parties."
Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, also confirmed it when speaking to pressmen at a forum in December but chose not to give names of the association. An INEC interim made available to journalist showed that as of March 25, 2022, no fewer than 120 applications were received by the commission. However, none of the associations has been registered. The report read in part, "As of March 2022, the commission had on record a total of 120 letters of intent from various political associations seeking to apply for registration as political parties. The summary of the status of the associations is that 97 associations out of 116 have been advised that their proposed names, acronyms or logos were not suitable or available for registration.
"Eleven of the associations that received letters of non-suitability of their proposed names/acronyms/logos resubmitted letters of intent with amended names/acronyms/logos. Sixteen associations submitted fresh letters of intent." Asked whether INEC would still register new political parties before the 2023 elections, Oyekanmi said on Friday that the final decision on whether or not to register a new political party before the elections rested exclusively with the commission, a system he said he would not pre-empt. He said, "The submission of an application by an association or group for registration as a political party is the starting point of an elaborate and rigorous process. It, therefore, takes time and a lot of effort from when an application is submitted to the day the certificate of registration is given.
"Section 75 of the Electoral Act, 2022 says any political association that complies with the provisions of the constitution and the Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party provided, however, that such an application for registration shall be duly submitted to the commission not later than 12 months before a general election." The 2023 General Elections Project Plan launched by INEC last month also projects 18 political parties for next year's elections. With June 3, 2022, as INEC's deadline for political parties to conclude their primaries, it seems clear that no new party will be able to participate in the general elections. 91 political parties participated in the last general election in 2019 but barring last minute change in process and procedures only 18 will take part in 2023 general elections.
Thenewsguru
