Section 75
Powers of the Commission to register political parties(1) Any political association that complies with the provisions of the Constitution and this Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party:
PROVIDED however, that such application for registration as a political party shall be duly submitted to the Commission not later than 12 months before a general election.
Cap. C23 LFN, 2004.(2) The Commission shall, on receipt of the documents in fulfillment of the conditions stipulated by the Constitution, immediately issue the applicant with a letter of acknowledgement stating that all the necessary documents had been submitted to the Commission.
(3) If the association has not fulfilled all the conditions under this section, the commission shall within 90 days from the receipt of its application notify the association in writing stating the reasons for non-registration.
(4) A political association that meets the conditions stipulated in the Constitution and this Act shall be registered by the Commission as a political party within 60 days from the date of receipt of the application, and if after the 60 days such association is not registered by the Commission, unless the Commission informs the association to the contrary, it shall be deemed to have been registered.
(5) An association, its executive members or principal officer who gives false or misleading information, commit an offence and is liable on conviction, in the case of —
(a) the association to a fine of N5,000,000; and
(b) each executive or principal officer of the association to a fine of N3,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of at least two years or both.
(6) An application for registration as a political party shall not be processed unless there is evidence of payment of administrative fee as may be fixed by the Commission.
This provision empowers the INEC to register political parties that fulfil the constitutional requirements stipulated in sections 221 to 223 of the 1999 Constitution. By virtue of subsection (1), application by associations to INEC for registration as a political party shall be done not later than 12 months before an election
The 2000 Act gives INEC a time frame of 90 days from the date of application to inform associations that do not meet the registration requirements, of their non-registration and reason for such decision. (It was 30 days in the repealed Act)
However, where the association meets the requirement for registration, they shall be registered within 60 days of their application, or they shall be deemed registered by default unless the Commission informs the association of the contrary.
Section 75(5) stipulates a criminal penalty for associations that obtain a certificate of registration via false or misleading information, as well as a higher penalty for an executive member or principal officer of the association found liable. The 2010 Act empowered the Commission to also cancel the certificate of registration of such association that was obtained through false or misleading information. This provision is however not in the new Act.
The 2010 Act in section 78 also empowered INEC to deregister parties for breaching registration requirements or for not winning elections at either the Presidential, Governorship, or Legislative levels, but this is deleted in the 2022 Act. However, it should be noted that this power can still by exercised by INEC by virtue of section 225A of the Constitution which contains similar provisions empowering INEC to de-register parties for failure to meet the set conditions in that section.
Deregistering of political parties has always been a contentious issue. It is however supported by the Constitution and the need to manage access to the ballot by political parties who have no real footing or reason for continued existence in the political space and are seen by observers as cluttering the ballot and adding to election logistics challenges.
On Registration of Parties: INEC V. MUSA (2005) 1 LRECN 573, P. 600, PARAS C-E
“INEC is one of the Federal Executive Bodies established by section 153(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (“the Constitution”). Its composition and powers are by virtue of section 153(2) contained in part 1 of the third schedule to the Constitution, paragraph 15(b) of which empowers it to: “register political parties in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an Act of the National Assembly”, while paragraph 15 (c) and (d), respectively provides that the Commission shall have power to “monitor the organization and operation of the political parties, including their finances” and “carry out such other function” as may be conferred upon by an Act of the National Assembly”.
LABOUR PARTY V. INEC (2009) 5 EPR 215 AT 217-218
“Section 229 of the Constitution being itself an interpretative section defines what a political party is and speaks for itself. It does not require any mechanical interpretation. Only associations whose activities include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election to the office of President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or membership of Legislative house of or a local government council is qualified to be called a political party. But that is not all, such an association must have been registered in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act… Thus, by section 78(1) of the Electoral Act, 2006 [now section 75(1) of the 2022 Act], any Political Association which complies with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act for the purpose of registration shall be registered as a political party.”
On De-registration of Parties: PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT V. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION & ANOR. (2022) LPELR-58524 (CA)
Peoples Democratic Movement, a registered political party, contended that they were de-registered by INEC pursuant to the provisions of Section 225A of the Constitution without prior notice or hearing. INEC argued that there is no legal requirement provided to hear a political party before they can ascertain whether a political party is in default. The Court of Appeal held that where a political party is in breach of any of the requirements for registration of a political party as provided under Section 222 of the Constitution and any of the events listed in Section 225A of the Constitution occurs, INEC has enormous powers to de-register the political party concerned and it must not be subject to any control or directive by a person or authority while exercising this power.
NATIONAL UNITY PARTY V. INEC, SC/485/2020
The Supreme Court upheld INEC’s de-registration of 22 political parties who were among 74 political parties deregistered by the Commission following their poor performance in the 2019 elections and failure to meet constitutional requirements for continued existence as provided in section 225(a), (b) & (c) of the Constitution.
Sections 222 – 229 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)
