The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday presented certificate of registration to 22 new political parties.
Consequently, the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria has increased from 46 to 68.
The development comes as the electoral body has revealed that 17 political parties in Nigeria had no functional offices, even as the Commission has threatened to deregister them in line with extant laws.
Prominent among the national chairmen of the new parties were Sarah Jubril, Nigeria’s first female presidential candidate, who chairs the Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP) as well as Saidu Dansadau, who represented Zamfara Central in the Fourth and Fifth Senate. He now chairs the National Rescue Movement.
In her address of welcome, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Elections and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Antonia Simbine, called on the newly registered political parties to put in a place mechanism for ensuring compliance with relevant laws governing their existence as political parties.
“It is pertinent to note that at the conclusion of a review of the compliance status of registered political parties done in August 2017, 17 out of the then 46 registered political parties had no functional offices in the FCT. Additionally, about 18 of the then 46 registered political parties had invalid National Executive Committees whose tenures had expired and/or where not reflective of the Federal Character of Nigeria as required by the Constitution,” she said.
According to Simbine, the Commission has issued a 90-day ultimatum to the erring parties to fully comply.
In his remarks, INEC Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu admitted that the electoral umpire will grapple with designing ballot papers if all the 68 parties contest at the 2019 general elections.
The parties include the: All Blending Party (ABP), All Grassroots Alliance (AGA), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Coalition for Change (C4C), Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Grassroots Development Party of Nigeria (GDPN) and Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP).
Others are: Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPN), Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Modern Democratic Party (MDP), National Interest Party (NIP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), New Progressive Movement (NPM), Nigeria Democratic Congress Party (NDCP) and People’s Alliance for National Development and Liberty (PANDEL).
Others include the People’s Trust (PT), Providence People’s Congress (PPC), Re-Build Nigeria Party (RBNP), Restoration Party of Nigeria (RP), Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) and Sustainable National Party (SNP).
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
