The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it has received 10 additional letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties, bringing the total number of aspiring political groups to 144.
This was revealed in a statement issued on Thursday by Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee.
Olumekun stated that the details of the newly interested associations including their names, acronyms, logos, addresses, and interim leaderships have been published on the Commission’s website and other platforms for public awareness.
He further disclosed that INEC is finalising the testing of its newly developed party registration portal, built in-house by its ICT team. “As with all our IT innovations, the new portal has been demonstrated before the Commission and approved for deployment,” Olumekun said.
According to him, the Commission is currently evaluating all the letters of intent submitted to determine which associations meet the criteria to proceed to the formal application stage.
In a related development, INEC announced that a total of 168,187 new voters have been registered ahead of the Anambra State Governorship Election scheduled for November 8,2025.
Olumekun noted that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, originally set to end on July 17, was extended until July 29,2025, following appeals from citizens.
He stated: “The final figure of new registrants is 168,187 the highest number recorded in a two-week period in Anambra since the introduction of the CVR ahead of the 2017 governorship election.”
A breakdown of the preliminary data shows that:
58% (97,832) of new voters are female, while 42%(70,355) are male.
53.97%(90,763) fall within the youth demographic aged 18–34.
36.92%(62,157) are businessmen and women, followed by 26.31%(44,243) who are students.
Among persons with disabilities (PWDs), 24.92% (303) have physical impairments, and 17.02% (207) have albinism.
The detailed breakdown has been made available on INEC’s website and other official platforms.
Olumekun explained that the next phase involves displaying the preliminary register of new voters for public scrutiny to allow for claims and objections. This will take place across all 326 wards in Anambra State from Saturday,July 26 to Friday, August 1,2025.
Once the process, including the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) checks, is complete, the verified new registrants will be added to the existing voter register and published by polling units ahead of the election.
Olumekun added that INEC will soon announce the dates and locations for collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) for new registrants, as well as those who applied for transfers or replacements. Previously uncollected PVCs will also be available.
“With just 150 days to the election, the Commission is fully aware of the tight timelines,” Olumekun said. “But we want to reassure all new registrants in Anambra State that their PVCs will be ready for collection ahead of the poll.”
