The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the African Peoples Congress’s registration bid due to irregularities in their application.
Specifically, the association failed to provide addresses for its national officers, breaching Section 222(a) of the Nigerian Constitution.
INEC’s Director of Publicity, Emmanuel Umenger, confirmed that the commission wrote to the association informing it of its decision. According to Umenger, the association’s application did not meet the constitutional requirements for party registration.
Oninye Ikeagwuonu, Protem National Chairman of the African Peoples Congress, accused INEC of conniving with unnamed politicians to deny the association registration. “We will not give up our pursuit for registration,” Ikeagwuonu vowed, adding that the association would seek judicial intervention if INEC fails to register it.
Osita Okechukwu, a member of the Merger Committee of the All Progressives Congress, praised INEC for defending the constitution. He described the African Peoples Congress’s bid for registration using “APC” as its acronym as “a culture of impunity borne out of mischief.”
The rejection of the African Peoples Congress’s bid is not an isolated incident. INEC has previously deregistered political parties for failing to meet constitutional requirements. In 2020, the commission deregistered 74 out of 92 political parties for failing to secure the minimum electoral threshold.
The decision to register or deregister political parties remains contentious in Nigeria’s political landscape. While some argue that new parties can bring fresh perspectives, others believe that they may not necessarily solve the country’s problems.