An INEC official says the names of the groups could not be revealed because they had not been approved as political parties.
Almost two years after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deregistered 74 political parties, over 100 groups have applied to be registered as new parties ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The commission had in February 2020 deregistered the parties because of their performance in the 2019 general elections.
The INEC made this known in its response letter to a request by Punch on Freedom of Information.
“The commission wishes to inform you that from 2019 to December 14, 2021, a total of 101 political associations have forwarded their letters of intent to be registered as political parties,” the letter reads.
READ ALSO: Algerian star Sofiane Lokar dies from a heart attack while playing on Christmas day
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman also confirmed the development in an interview with the newspaper saying, the names of the groups could not be revealed because they had not been approved as political parties.
Oyeakanmi said, “So far, a total of 101 associations have submitted their letters of intent to be registered as political parties. However, a letter of intent does not amount to an application for registration. An association can only be said to have applied when such application is in the prescribed form.
“The INEC designed application form is only issued after an association has received clearance on its proposed name, logo, acronym, and address in Abuja and has also paid the required fee of N1m to obtain the form.”
Recall that following the deregistration of the 74 political parties in February 2020, the number of political parties in the country dropped to 18.
