The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it has received 10 more letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties, bringing the number so far to 144.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun in a statement issued Thursday noted that the details of the new associations, including their names, acronyms, logos, addresses and interim leaderships are published on its website and other platforms for public information.
He explained that the electoral body was finalising necessary tests on the party registration portal designed and built in-house by its ICT officials.
The National commissioner said as is the case with all our IT innovations, the new portal has been demonstrated before the Commission and approved for deployment.
He added: “The Commission has received 10 more letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties, bringing the number so far to 144.
“The Commission is evaluating all numerous letters of intent received so far to determine the associations that meet the requirements to proceed to the application stage. A report is expected at our next regular meeting.”
Meanwhile, the commission said it has registered a total of 168,187 new voters ahead of the November 8 governorship election in Anambra State.
Olumekun stressed that as earlier announced, the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) scheduled to end on 17th July 2025 was extended to 29th July 2025 following appeals by citizens.
He noted: “The final figure of new registrants is 168,187 which is the highest number recorded in two weeks in Anambra State since the introduction of the CVR ahead of the governorship election in 2017.
“Although these are preliminary figures pending data clean-up, the detailed breakdown shows that 97,832 (58 per cent) are female while 70,355 (42 per cent) are male.
“In terms of age, 90,763 (53.97 per cent ) are young people aged 18-34 while the occupational distribution shows that 62,157 (36.92 per cent) are businessmen/women while 44,243 (26.31 per cent) are students.
“In terms of Persons with Disability (PWDs), 303 (24.92 per cent) have physical impediment, followed by 207 (17.02 per cent) with albinism.”
Olumekun added that the detailed breakdown has been uploaded on the commission’s website and other platforms for public information.
He explained that the immediate next step is to display the preliminary register of new voters for claims and objections by citizens who are the ultimate owners of the register.
This, Olumekun noted, would take place in all the 326 Wards in Anambra State from Saturday 26th July 2025 to Friday 1st August 2025.
He said once this process is concluded, including the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), the new registrants would be added to the existing register and published on Polling Unit basis ahead of the election.
The National Commissioner noted that thereafter, the Commission would announce the dates and locations for the collection of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for new registrants and those who applied for transfer or replacement of their lost or damaged cards.
He stressed that the PVCs from previous registration would also be available for collection.
Olumekun said with 105 days to the election, the Commission is aware of the tight timelines but reassured all new registrants in Anambra State that their PVCs would be available for collection ahead of the election.