Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved the registration of two new political parties, bringing the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria to 21.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday during the commission’s first regular consultative meeting with political parties for 2026 at INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The newly registered parties are the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
The existing parties include Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), Labour Party (LP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressive Party (YPP), Youth Party and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Amupitan said the decision followed a rigorous assessment process in line with the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022, and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
According to him, INEC received 171 letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties. After an initial screening, 14 associations were pre-qualified, while only eight successfully uploaded the required documents on INEC’s portal.
The eight included the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
“Out of the eight, only two qualified for final assessment. After due consideration, only the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) fully complied with the requirements of the law and was approved for registration,” Amupitan said.
He explained that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) was registered pursuant to a court order.
“The Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025 ordered the Commission to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). The Commission has complied with the order,” he stated.
Amupitan added that certificates of registration would be issued to the two parties in due course.
He cautioned political parties against persistent internal leadership crises and litigations, noting that such disputes distract INEC from its core mandate of conducting free, fair and credible elections.
The INEC chairman urged party leaders to embrace internal democracy, dialogue and transparency to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic process as preparations intensify for elections in 2026 and 2027.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, called on INEC and the National Assembly to ensure that real-time electronic transmission of election results to the IReV portal becomes mandatory.
Dantalle also advocated the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), urging that INEC be empowered to conduct all elections nationwide. He further canvassed the conduct of all elections on the same day to reduce costs, curb voter fatigue and prevent bandwagon effects.
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