The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Thursday, said it has uploaded on its website and other platforms the Supplementary Regulations and Guidelines for the Review of Election Results.
The commission also stated that it has received 12 more applications for registration as political parties as of Wednesday, bringing the total number of applications to 122.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, stated this at a press statement after its regular weekly meeting.
He said clear procedure and timelines have now been provided, the details of which are contained in Supplementary No.1 to the main Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2022.
Olumekun noted that the provision to Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 empowers the commission to review declaration and return in elections that are not made voluntarily or done contrary to the law, regulations and guidelines for the election.
“Consequently, there have been many interpretations of Section 65 of the Electoral Act, making it necessary for the commission to use its powers under the law to issue Regulations, Guidelines or Manuals for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Act and for its administration,” he said.
He also assured Nigerians that INEC will be giving regular updates on the matter. The commission is processing these applications transparently and in fairness to all applicants, having announced that it has received 12 more applications for registration as political parties had after announcing applications from 110 associations seeking registration as political parties on Monday last week.
He also said the list of the new applications by names of associations, their acronyms, addresses, and interim chairmen and secretaries have been uploaded to website and other platforms for public information.
“We will respond to these applicants in line with the Electoral Act and Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.”
However, the commission noted that one association has already changed its interim secretary as a result of defection to another association.
To facilitate the consideration of these applications, the commission appealed to associations to maintain consistency of their proposed leadership and addresses so that they would not by their own actions cause a delay to the timely consideration of their applications.