The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it has received 91 applications for the establishment of new political parties.
Naija News reports that these submissions come amid preparations for the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
Top political parties, however, have expressed their view of the latest applications to INEC. The Peoples Democratic Party remarked that the volume of applications indicates a lack of cohesion among opposition leaders.
On the other hand, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) described it as evidence of the ruling All Progressives Congress’s (APC’s) ineptitude.
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Conversely, the Labour Party expressed its support for the influx of applications but urged INEC to conduct a thorough review of each submission prior to granting registration.
In response, the APC alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was orchestrating this initiative, asserting that it would ultimately be futile as the party remains confident in its prospects for the 2027 elections.
This announcement comes amidst claims from opposition factions who accuse INEC of deliberately hindering the registration of new political parties in anticipation of the upcoming general elections.
A prominent member of the opposition coalition and former National Vice Chairman of the APC for the North-West, Salihu Lukman, stated that political parties that failed to meet the electoral threshold by securing a seat in the last general elections face the risk of deregistration.
In his remarks, Lukman highlighted that negotiating within the political party landscape presents significant challenges, noting that many coalition members have been actively engaged in this process for over a year.
“Perhaps, it is important to highlight that there are many groups, including some members of the coalition, who have filed applications to register political parties. For reasons best known to INEC, these applications are being frustrated.
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“The only conclusion that can be reached in the circumstance is that INEC has decided that it will not register new parties,” he said.
More Political Party Registration Won’t Divide Oppositions
On March 20, 2025, presidential hopefuls Atiku Abubakar from the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai declared the establishment of a coalition to contest against President Bola Tinubu in the upcoming 2027 elections.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity for INEC’s Election and Parties Monitoring Department, Victoria Eta-Messi, stated that no applications were rejected.
In response to these accusations, INEC’s EPM department stated, “No application was rejected. We have received 91 as of today.”
In his reply, the Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, stressed that opposition leaders do not require numerous political parties to displace the ruling APC; instead, they need a robust and cohesive platform.
Osadolor characterized the initiative to establish new political parties as superfluous and a misuse of resources.
He stated, “It shows a disconnect, a major disconnect among the opposition leaders and figures. The truth is this, you don’t need 500 political parties, you don’t even need 20, you don’t even need five, you don’t even need three to defeat APC. All you need is one formidable opposition party to challenge the power and empower those who can run the country.
“For me, having 91 applications means that in the end, INEC may end up with 40, or whatever the case may be. But again, does that solve our problem? It does not. And if it does not solve our problem, why waste our time over it? So I think it’s highly unnecessary.
“What they should do right now is focus more on how to harmonize. And have a much more formidable platform, wherein the chance of victory will be more assured than in this current division.
“There is need for INEC to look at the figures and characters behind them. Some just want to be on the ballot without even knowing why they are on the ballot. Others genuinely want the best for Nigeria but lack the structure and technical know-how to go about it. All of these energies being put into having minority political parties or having incompetent people in political parties is unnecessary.
“The genuine official figures should sit down first and square out with each other, look at each other, and tell each other some hard truth. What do we really want? Do we want to be known as official figures, or do we want to be known as martyrs for democracy in Nigeria? Or do we want to be those who brought progressive change to Nigerians? Once they answer these questions, the next major question should be ‘how do we go about it? Do we need three platforms, four, five?’ So, the opposition leaders need to seat and address all these and not registering more parties.”
Advantage For The Coalition
Commenting on the development, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, referred to it as an indictment of the ruling party, which he also considered an advantage for the coalition.
Johnson stated that the NNPP seeks greater participation from Nigerians in the process.
“No we are not threatened, not really, because we welcome more participation by Nigerians. We want more Nigerians to participate in the process. We believe that those who have decided to form new parties, or who are attempting to, when they get to the field, as it were, might be even more encouraged to come together with some of us existing parties.
“So, it’s something we understand. But once there is more participation, we appreciate it. It’s good. I don’t think it will divide the opposition parties more. By and large, a lot of it would be people who are trying to come together, who have seen that there is a need for us all to come together to try to bring about an alternative to what the APC is doing.
“In the long run, yes. More people want to participate. The fact that you have more parties coming should be seen not just as an indictment on the political class now, but more of an indictment on the ruling party, the APC.
“It shows the level of awareness that has been generated by their ineptitude and the way they have misruled the country so far,” Johnson told The PUNCH.
This Is Democracy, Nothing Wrong With More Party Registration
On his part, the Labour Party National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, affirmed that any group seeking to become a political party has the right to submit a request to INEC.
Ifoh said that the establishment of new political parties does not endanger those that are already in existence.
“It is the duty of INEC to receive a letter of interest from aspiring political associations, and they do not have the right to stop people from submitting their letters. It is part of their responsibility to assess those applications and determine whether they are qualified before they can become political parties.
“This is democracy. We are advocating for an inclusive attitude toward the registration of political parties. So, if any of them qualifies, why not? At one point in time in Nigeria, we had almost 90-something political parties.
“It is within the rights of all those people who want to transition from political associations to political parties. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, and it is not a threat to any political organization or party. There’s always this saying: the more, the merrier.
“The registration of political parties is the right of INEC, and any organisation that qualifies should be registered. It is not a threat to any political party, whether the ruling party or the opposition,” the LP chieftain stated.
Meanwhile, the National Spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties, Mark Adebayo, has contended that limiting the number of political parties would harm democratic principles.
He stated that in a genuine multiparty democracy, the electoral management body should not possess the power to restrict the registration of political parties.
Adebayo pointed out that nations such as the UK and the US have hundreds of registered political parties, even though only a select few are prominent in the political arena.
He argued that a more diverse political environment with an increased number of parties would bolster the opposition and present a significant challenge to the ruling party.
“The fewer the political parties, the fewer the chances of opposition forces coming together to challenge the status quo,” he said.
“If more political parties are registered, they can form coalitions to contest against the APC, just like APC itself was an amalgamation of smaller parties that ousted the PDP in 2015.”
Although leading opposition parties appear fragmented, Adebayo stressed that if more parties with strong regional bases emerged, they could unite to pose a serious challenge in the 2027 elections.
He warned that failing to register new parties could play into the hands of the ruling party, which might be attempting to engineer a de facto one-party system by eliminating competition.
“If they refuse to register new parties, it only strengthens the ruling party’s grip on power,” he stated.
The More, The Merrier
Also commenting on the development, the National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Rufus Aiyenigba, said, “We are in a democracy. The more, the merrier. What we are concerned about is for us to sanitise the electoral system. The numbers of parties don’t really matter, there was a time we had 100 and presently we have 19 and we still have issues it is not necessarily the numbers of parties but the commitment to the democratic ideas.”
However, APC Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, believed that unsuccessful politicians looking to maintain their relevance are responsible for the registration of the new political parties.
During a chat with newsmen on Wednesday, Ibrahim remarked that even if Atiku attempts to register multiple parties under different identities, it will ultimately fail.
He stated, “You see, there is a relevance of irrelevance. When people try and fail, sometimes, in order to remain afloat, they give the impression that they are still capable of running, but in reality, they cannot run because they have been tested and found untrustworthy. These parties that they are trying to register, they are doing so in anticipation of getting something from the Federalgovernment, unknown to them, that no longer exists.
“The time when parties were funded by the government or given money to run their affairs without being relevant or in a position to add value to the political structure is over.
“You see, Atiku Abubakar, in Nigerian politics, with all due respect, has won only one election in his lifetime, but since then, he has lost more than six elections. He is a serial loser, a perpetual contestant, and a perpetual loser who cannot give the APC, which is increasing in strength, increasing in acceptance, and increasing in support, a sleepless night. There is just no way. So even if he decides to register more political parties in disguise, it’s just going to be movement without any change in position. So, APC is not threatened by the number of applications recipients by INEC.”
