INEC Registers New Party

The Youth Party (YP) is a brand-new political party that has been registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Youth Party (YP) is a new political party that has been registered by the National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC.

Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman of the INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, made this revelation in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

According to report, this development brought the nation’s total number of officially recognised political parties to 19.

The INEC deregistered 74 political parties on February 6, 2020 due to their poor performance in the 2019 general elections and the subsequent rerun polls across the nation, according to our correspondent.

In addition to the current provision for the registration of political parties, the Fourth Alteration to Section 225(a) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, gives the commission authority to deregister political parties, according to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

In the 2019 general elections, 91 political parties took part, and a further party, the Boot Party, was registered as a result of a court ruling after the election.

The Youth Party (YP) was registered on August 16, 2018, as a result of the Federal High Court’s decision, which was handed down on October 16, 2017, according to a statement released by Okoye on Thursday.

“After the commission decided to deregister some parties in accordance with Section 225A of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Youth Party went to the Federal High Court and obtained an Order prohibiting the commission from deregistering it.

According to him, “on appeal by the commission, the Court of Appeal set aside the Order of the Federal High Court, and on further appeal by the party, the Supreme Court set aside the deregistration of the party.”

According to the statement, based on the Supreme Court’s ruling, INEC spoke with YP officials on the ways in which it would operate in accordance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act of 2022, and the Commission’s regulations and guidelines.

Accordingly, the panel recognised the Youth Party (YP) as the 19th political party in Nigeria, with all the rights and advantages afforded to political parties in Nigeria, he added.