The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it has received a total of 171 letters of intent for the registration of new political parties.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement issued Thursday said it has received 19 more letters of intent from 19 associations seeking registration as political parties as of Wednesday, 3rd September, 2025.
He noted that the details of the latest update are uploaded on its website and other official platforms for public information.
Meanwhile, in another development, the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed deep concern over the statistics recently released by INEC on the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
In a statement signed by the State Director of Media, Hezekiah Oladele Bamiji (HOB), the party questioned the wide disparity between the number of online pre-registrants and those who have completed the mandatory in-person registration exercise in Osun State.
In further elaboration on the letters of intent for the registration of new political parties, INEC National Commissioner Olumekun added: “Since our last update on the number of associations seeking registration as political parties, 19 more letters of intent have been received, bringing the total so far to 171 as at yesterday, 3rd September 2025. Details of the latest update are uploaded to our website and other official platforms for public information.
“As earlier announced by the Commission, a shortlist of the pre-qualified associations is being finalised for the next stage of application for registration. The committee reviewing the letters of intent has prepared its recommendations for final consideration by the Commission.
“We wish to appeal to all the associations that submitted letters of intent to remain patient as we finalise the process. We also urge them to avoid frequent changes to their logos, acronyms and addresses or one association submitting multiple requests.
“Worse, some associations have changed their interim leaderships, following defections to other associations or even existing political parties, thereby delaying the process.
“We wish to reassure the associations that the Commission will treat all applications fairly while urging them to assist the process by remaining consistent.”
Olumekun assured that the Commission would continue to communicate with Nigerians on all its activities.
Meanwhile, the commission stressed that a total of 2,656,437 registered voters would elect a new governor in Anambra State in November.
Olumekun added: “In continuation of preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship Election, the Commission carried out voter registration in the 326 wards across the state from 8th to 20th July 2025. During that period, 168,187 citizens registered as new voters.
“At the end of the registration exercise, the Commission earmarked a period of one week (8th to 20th July 2025) to display the list of new registrants in all the wards for claims and objections by citizens in the spirit of Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“Furthermore, the Commission scrutinised the list using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect invalid registrations. At the end of the process, 27,817 records were found to be double or multiple registrations and removed from the list.
“Consequently, the figure for new registrants now stands at 140,370 while valid applications for transfer into the state is 5,983, making a total of 146,353 new voters.
“Prior to the recent voter registration, Anambra State had 2,656,437 registered voters. With the new registrants, the voters roll for the State now stands at 2,802,790.
“The distribution of the new figures by Local Government Area shows that Idemili North with 246,318 (8.79%) has the highest number of voters, followed by Awka South with 216,611 (7.73%) and Ogbaru with 188,016 (6.71%). On the other hand, Dunokofia and Anambra West have 83,580 (2.98%) and 71,332 (2.55%) registered voters respectively.’”
Olumekun said the distribution of new voters by Local Government Area has been uploaded to its website and other official platforms for public information.
It assured that new voters in Anambra State as well as those who applied for transfer or replacement of their lost or damaged Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) that their cards would be ready for collection well ahead of the governorship election holding in the next 63 days on Saturday 8th November 2025.
Meanwhile, concerning the Ogun PDP objection to INEC figures, the Commission had revealed that over 470,000 Nigerians in Osun State have commenced their registration online within two weeks.
However, less than 600 registrants were recorded to have completed the in-person process as at the time of the Commission’s report.
The Osun PDP described this as “a worrisome gap that raises serious questions about the transparency, credibility, and efficiency of the registration process.
“It is unacceptable for INEC to continue to churn out figures without creating a verifiable and transparent process for political parties and stakeholders to monitor, so much so that the exercise is after all, mainly to allow Nigerian citizens to participate in the electoral process and not any personal or rocket sciences.”
“Beyond being a mere statistical error, the deliberate under-reporting of Osun’s CVR figure raises serious questions about the credibility of INEC’s data management.
“How could over 25,000 duly completed registrations physically captured by INEC officials across Osun suddenly shrink to just 500 registrations in the national office’s report? Such a gaping disparity cannot be waved aside as a clerical mistake.
“It is inconceivable and unacceptable that Osun, a state where daily averages of 1,500 to 2,000 voters complete their in-person registration, would be falsely presented with only 500 completed registrations for the entire reporting period.
“This contradiction directly insults the intelligence of the electorate and dangerously undermines confidence in the commission’s preparedness for the August 2026 governorship election as well as 2027 general election.
“The PDP therefore demands that INEC immediately correct this manipulated data, publish the authentic Osun figure of 25,000+ completed registrations without delay, and explain why such a wide gulf exists between field records and the national report.
“Anything short of this is nothing but a calculated attempt to disenfranchise Osun citizens and lay a foundation for electoral fraud, which our party and the people will never tolerate.
“How do we reconcile nearly half a million online registrants with barely half a thousand completing their registration physically? This inconsistency must be explained with verifiable and traceable evidence,” the statement read.
The party further demanded that INEC in Osun State must: Provide daily detailed reports of completed registrations, including Voter Card transfer applications received and processed by the commission across all designated centres to accredited political party representatives as well as Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
It further demanded that INEC in Osun State must open up the registration process to independent scrutiny by stakeholders to ensure that no figures are manipulated or exaggerated for possible fraudulent motives, and guarantee proper record keeping and transparency from registration through to the printing and issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The PDP warned that failure to make the process more open and accountable could erode public confidence in the Commission’s ability to conduct free, fair, and credible elections in Osun State.
The party also stressed the need for INEC to make public the source points and records of voter card transfers within or from any other part of the country to Osun State, insisting that such disclosures are essential for transparency.
According to the PDP, without a clear and open account of how voter cards are transferred from one location to another, the process remains vulnerable to manipulation and abuse.
“It is not enough for INEC to dump figures on Nigerians without giving room for authentication and verification. Our democracy demands openness, and Osun PDP will continue to insist on transparency in the voter registration process as the foundation of credible elections,” the statement concluded.
Adedayo Akinwale and Yinka Kolawole
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