Nigeria?s electoral body said on Tuesday it had registered 22 new political parties, bringing to 28 the number to contest next year?s general elections.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), Abel Guobadia, told a news conference in the capital Abuja that three out of 25 parties that had applied for registration failed to meet the revised guidelines issued by the body.
“The commission wishes to congratulate the new political parties for their success, and further wishes them good fortune,” Guobadia said.
Inec had called for fresh applications last month from political parties seeking registration after the Supreme Court had overruled as unconstitutional several conditions used by the body to deny the 25 parties registration in June. All the five political parties that took legal action against INEC were registered in the latest exercise.
With the registration of the parties, the coming general elections will be contested by the highest number of political parties ever since Nigeria adopted the presidential system of government in 1979.
Only three political parties, the ruling People?s Democratic Party and the opposition All Nigeria People?s Party and Alliance for Democracy, were registered for the 1999 vote that ended more than 15 years of military rule in Africa?s most populous country.
Three new political parties, the All Progressive Grand Alliance, the United Nigeria People?s Party and the National Democratic Party, were granted registration by Inec in June.
Most of the new parties approved by the body on Tuesday are left-leaning. Among them is the National Conscience Party, led by radical lawyer Gani Fawehinmi, who had led the legal action against Inec and the Green Party, Nigeria?s first environmentalist political party. – Irin