Registering a political party in Nigeria; the step by step guide

As the drum begins to roll for the upcoming 2023 election, many people are already warming up to join politics and participate in the electoral battle to take over a seat of governance or to join the governance of different political cadres; be it local, state or at federal level of the government.

It’s obvious that some electorate don’t believe in the ideologies of the existing political parties while other who used to be the party members of the existing political bigwigs no longer want to be identified with those parties due to political rivalries or change in political perceptions and ideologies hence the need for some people to form and create their own political parties where they will create fresh ideologies and policies and reorganize themselves, canvass and campaign for votes, go into the election field with grin teeth and battle for different seats of governance in the country.

This piece will be of immense help to aspiring political party leaders and those nurturing the ambition of forming and registering a political party as it will summarize the steps of registering a political party in Nigeria in order for the party to be accorded with legal status and ready to be identified by the electoral umpire (INEC).

Thus, any citizen of Nigeria who is of age have the right to join or form a political party as it is every citizen’s constitutional right as provided in section 40 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to join any interest group of his or her choice, form an interest or political  group or register a political party to field candidates and contest elections for any political seat in Nigeria starting from the seat of the councilorship which is currently the least political seat in Nigeria to the presidential seat which is zenith of the political seats in existence in governance.

It is pertinent to be pointed out that every social or interest group which tend to campaign and contest for election in Nigeria must first register with the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) if not that group won’t be accorded with the legal status to be called a political party and won’t be legally fit and proper to field candidates to contest for electoral seats.

As businesses, companies, churches, schools, NGOs etc are expected to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in order to be accorded the legal status at law, social, political or interest groups that wish to field candidates and contest for election are expected to register with the electoral umpire called Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by the chairman in order to obtain the legal status to be regarded as a political party then can be legally fit and proper to be accorded with such status.

The first step in registering a political party in Nigeria is that the group wanting to be registered as a political party must first pick a name for the party; a distinct name and acronym and a distinct symbol and logo for the party. It must not be similar to a party already existing in Nigeria if not INEC will be forced not to register such a party inorder not to breed confusion.

The next step for registering a political party in Nigeria is the payment of the INEC administrative fee of One Million Naira (N1,000,000). This fee is non-refundable, even if you change your mind about carrying on with the party, INEC is not obligated to refund you this administrative fee paid by you.

After the payment of the administrative fee, you are issued with a form called FORM PAI. You are expected to fill this form and return it to the INEC within 30 working days. You are to submit 50 copies of this completed  form, 50 copies of the proposed party constitution and 50 copies of the proposed party manifestos. These documents are to be submitted fully endorsed by the chairman and secretary of the proposed party and their full contact details.

Please note that if all the necessary documents are not submitted to the INEC within 30 working days INEC will see it that you are not ready yet or no longer interested in registering the political and they will terminate the application for the registration and whenever you are ready to carry on with the application for the party registration you will be expected to pay a fresh One million naira (N1,000,000) non-refundable administrative fee.

The next step is that INEC will verify every document submitted for the application for registration. If INEC is satisfied that everything is checked out they will register the political party and a certificate of registration will be issued.

INEC also has the power to deny registering any party if they feel that all requirements have not been satisfied. When they refuse to register a party, they are obligated to notify the applicants their reason(s) for the refusal to register the party and the proposed political party may rectify the defects with INEC within 30 working days.

Caveat; this is just a summary of the steps to be taken in registering a political party in Nigeria. The writer is not ignorant of the fact that it may not be this simple but this piece is just here to guide you and you are always expected to consult a lawyer. If you don’t have any lawyer, you can always consult the writer who is a renowned lawyer and a legal consultant.