INEC to decide fate of new political parties Wednesday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will disclose its decision on political associations seeking to be registered as political parties on Wednesday.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, disclosed this in an interview with journalists at a workshop to review the commission’s communication policy in Abuja.

Yakubu said the decision would be made public after the commission’s meeting with resident electoral commissioners (RECs) scheduled for Wednesday in Kaduna.

“Let me assure Nigerians that under the Electoral Act, the commission is required to register new political parties and the guidelines are very clear for registration,” he said.

“As at last week we received 95 applications for registration as new political parties. At the end of this workshop there is going to be a retreat on Wednesday to review the ongoing voter registration, followed by a meeting of the commission here in Kaduna.

“There will be a statement on parties after the meeting of the commission.”

Advance Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA), a new political association, was unveiled on Monday. Raymond Dokpesi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Dan Nwanyanwu, former national chairman of the Labour Party, were some those present at the event.

However, it is not certain if the APDA is one of the political associations INEC will take a decision on Wednesday.

Shittu Mohammed, interim national chairman of the APDA, had  said  that the association was yet to formally apply to INEC for registration as a political party as of Monday.