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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared eight associations seeking registration as political parties to proceed to the screening stage of the pre-registration exercise.
The cleared political associations include All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Green Future Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
INEC, in a statement by National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, explained that the eight out of the 14 pre-qualified associations were those that successfully completed the upload of all necessary information and documentation.
He, however, urged the cleared eight associations to proceed to the next step in the registration process, which according to him entails detailed assessment and verification of the information and documents submitted by each association.
The commission noted that the stage would ensure conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties (2022).
According to the statement, “Further to the commission’s earlier update on the ongoing process for the registration of political parties, INEC held its regular meeting, and among other issues, reviewed progress made since that announcement.
“Following the briefing held for 14 pre-qualified associations on Tuesday, September 17, the commission opened its dedicated portal for the upload of required documents from Wednesday, September 18 to Friday, October 18, at midnight.
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“As of Saturday, October 19, eight out of the fourteen pre-qualified associations successfully completed the upload of all necessary information and documentation.
Meanwhile, INEC has accredited the Sun Newspaper and 75 other media organisations to provide media coverage during the November 8 Anambra State governorship election. The commission further explained that 508 journalists drawn from the accredited media outlets met the necessary requirements to provide comprehensive coverage of the exercise.
The electoral umpire noted that the distribution of media tags to accredited personnel would take place between Monday, November 3 and Thursday, November 6, at the International Press Centre, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat Complex, behind the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Awka, stressing that the exercise would hold daily from 9am to 4pm.
The commission urged all journalists covering the election to adhere strictly to the Code of Conduct for Election Coverage, cautioning that it reserved the right to withdraw accreditation from any media organisation or personnel found violating the guidelines.
It explained that some accredited media organisations had also been granted access to the Collation Centre to ensure transparent coverage of results collation, but must comply with all security and operational protocols.
Among the accredited outlets are The Sun, Guardian, Nation, Punch, Blueprint, Leadership, Daily Independent, Arise News, Channels Television, AIT, TVC, BBC, NTA, NAN, Premium Times, The Cable, News Central and Wazobia FM, among others.
INEC further assured that the accreditation process was part of efforts to guarantee transparency, fairness and wide reportage of the electoral process.
