By EMMANUEL OLONIRUHA

African Alliance Party (AAP) has issued a two-week ultimatum to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register it as a political party or face legal action.

The AAP Interim National Chairman, Rev. Olusegun Peters, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

NAN reports that AAP is one of the eight pre-qualified associations seeking INEC registration that successfully completed the upload of required documents on the commission’s portal.

Peters said that the association did not only meet the upload deadline but also fulfilled all requirements stipulated in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.

He alleged that INEC “unjustly denied” the group registration despite meeting all the set conditions and timelines.

He referenced recent media reports that two associations—Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) and AAP—had been cleared for registration.

“It is hard to believe that INEC, which pledged to treat each application based on merit and according to the provisions of the laws, can turn around to deny AAP which, in all ramifications, met the requirements for registration,” Peters stated.

He claimed that the refusal of INEC to register the party was politically motivated due to AAP’s ‘growing popularity’ ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“We believe we were denied registration because of the level of acceptance we have already gained with Nigerians, including the political class and ordinary citizens, based on our manifesto and the solutions we offer to Nigeria’s challenges,” he said.

Peters said that their lawyers had been briefed to proceed with litigation, should the commission fail to review its list and register AAP within the 14-day window.

He called on INEC to make public the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court order that led to the registration of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in place of AAP.

The chairman expressed surprise that NDC was registered despite not being among the 14 pre-qualified associations or the eight that successfully uploaded their details to the commission’s website.

He said Nigerians deserved clear explanations on the registration of NDC, an association that, he claimed, never met the constitutional requirements nor pay for the mandatory fee for its registration.

“INEC claimed that it got a court order to register NDC as a political party. But in both INEC’s website and its press release, NDC’s name is not listed among the associations that were pre-qualified for formal application.

“So how did NDC get court judgment to be registered? With what papers did it approach the court?

“How can the court give judgment to a political association that did not participate in the complete registration process? These are questions that INEC needs to supply answers to.

“Can INEC provide clarity on the registration of NDC as a political party, considering that it wasn’t listed among pre-qualified associations or applicants?

“What documentation did NDC present to obtain a court judgment? And how did the court arrive at this decision without NDC participating in the registration process?” Peters queried.

NAN reports that INEC had, on Sept. 11, 2025, disclosed that only 14 out of 171 associations seeking registration met the initial requirements.

On Sept. 2, 2025, INEC National Commissioner, Sam Olumekun, confirmed that only eight associations had successfully completed their documentation, including AAP.

Others were: All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).

NAN also reports that INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, had, on Feb. 5, during a quarterly consultative meeting, announced the registration of only two new parties—DLA and NDC—bringing the existing political parties in the country to 21.

Amupitan explained that DLA was the sole association to fully comply with the law, following physical verification, while NDC was registered in obedience to an order of a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi in a Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/49/2025.

While INEC maintained that final determinations were based on rigorous physical verification of claims, AAP, however, insisted that its exclusion was a breach of the legal framework governing political party registration in Nigeria. (NAN)

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