Party registration: FASRAPP rejects INEC’s exclusion of 157 political associations

The Forum of Associations Seeking Registration as Political Parties (FASRAPP) has faulted the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude 157 political associations from its recent party registration exercise.

In a statement jointly signed by its chairman, John Nwobodo, and secretary, Godwin Udibe, on Friday, the forum described the exclusion as unacceptable.

It noted that INEC only cleared 14 out of 171 political associations that had submitted letters of intent to proceed to the application stage.

FASRAPP accused the electoral body of violating its own guidelines and called for a shorter timeline for evaluating letters of intent.

The statement reads: “The Forum of Associations Seeking Registration as Political Parties (FASRAPP) has come across press statement dated 11th September, 2025 issued on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by Sam Olumekun mni, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee disclosing that only 14 out 171 political associations that submitted letters of intent prequalified to proceed to the application stage. This meant that 157 associations have been excluded.

“FASRAPP is alarmed at this development and wonders what could be the basis for the selective prequalification. While the Forum is in anticipation of letters from the Commission conveying their reasons for not pre-qualifying 157 associations, it is pertinent in the meantime to state our interim position.”

The forum argued that INEC failed to comply with its own rule, which requires it to communicate the availability or suitability of a proposed name, symbol, or acronym within 90 days of receiving a letter of intent.

“FASRAPP notes that INEC has flagrantly abused its own guidelines which mandates it to, within 90 days of receipt of letter of intent, convey in writing provisional approval of the availability and suitability or otherwise of the association’s proposed name, symbol and acronym,” the forum said.

It also faulted the prolonged delay, stressing that some associations had submitted letters since 2024, while INEC allowed applications to “pile up” for over a year.

According to FASRAPP, the process should not take as long as 90 days: “We are of the view that 90 days merely to reserve name is outrageous. There are just 19 political parties in the country today and therefore the political parties database or register has few content. The Corporate Affairs Commission with its vast database yet it reserves names within 5 minutes and registration of companies can be concluded the same day. On the contrary INEC thrives on analogue, archaic and outdated practices deliberately so to frustrate citizens’ fundamental rights to form and belong to political parties of their choice.”

The forum further alleged irregularities in INEC’s selection process, noting that some approved associations had discrepancies in their submitted information, while others had not appeared in earlier official updates.

It insisted that the criteria for provisional approval should remain limited to the availability and suitability of the association’s name, symbol, and acronym.

The statement outlined the commission’s own restrictions, which bar names or symbols that are too similar to existing parties, have ethnic or religious undertones, or use prohibited insignia such as national emblems or religious imagery.

FASRAPP stressed that unless INEC can demonstrate violations of these specific rules, its decision to disqualify the 157 groups lacks justification.

“Members of FASRAPP shall meet to appraise the reasons for their exclusion as soon as INEC conveys their reasons for disapproving the names of affected associations and decide on next steps,” the forum added.