The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has de-registered 75 political parties for breach of regulations that govern their operations.
The Commission at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday said the affected political parties “did not satisfy the requirement of the Fourth Alteration to the Constitution.”
By the action, Nigeria now has 18 political parties left that are currently authorized to operate.
Detailing the reasons that led to the de-registration, INEC said it included failure of the parties to win at least 25 per cent of votes cast in one state of the federation in a presidential election or one local government of a state in a gubernatorial vote.
It also included failure to win at least one ward in a chairmanship election, a seat in the national or state legislature, a seat in at the councillorship level.
It is said that INEC under section 225 A of the Nigerian constitution (Fourth Alteration, No. 9) Act, 2017 also reserves the power to de-register a party over a breach of any of the regulations for registration.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) share the state-level governance of all 36 states across the federation.
President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC has been in office since 2015 after the party in a landslide victory dislodged the PDP that had governed the country for 16 years.
Buhari is currently in his second term having secured reelection in March 2016. His tenure ends in 2023 when next polls will be held.
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