Nigeria’s electoral commission has replaced its manual political party registration process with a digital portal under its new PFRAS system, as it braces for a packed 2025–2026 election cycle that includes five major polls and a surge in party formation efforts.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday launched a political party registration portal, a module of its Party Financial Reporting and Auditing System (PFRAS) at its weekly meeting.
This is in contrast to the manual registration process employed in the past.
INEC noted that the innovation will improve the registration procedure for political parties.
The commission stated, “Unlike the manual method used in previous registration, the Commission is introducing a political party registration portal, a module in our Party Financial Reporting and Auditing System (PFRAS). This will make the process faster and seamless.”
The Commission will complete the last testing of the portal before deployment in the coming weeks.
The next step for entitied that fulfil the prerequisites to move on to the application stage will then be made public.
The Commission will also release guidelines to make it easier to submit applications through the PFRAS.
INEC received 129 applications for new political parties’ registration
The Commission also provided additional information regarding other associations’ requests to register as political parties. Seven more applications have been received since last week, increasing the total to 129.
“All the requests are being processed,” INEC stated.
The commission noted that the list of the new associations has been posted to its website and other channels.
“Meanwhile, the list of the new associations has been uploaded to our website and other platforms for public information,” it concluded.
Electoral schedule for 2025-2026
The Independent National Electoral Commission announced a comprehensive electoral schedule for 2025 and 2026 during its second quarterly consultative meeting with resident electoral commissioners in Abuja on July 1.
It included the nationwide restart of Continuous Voter Registration and five significant elections.
In a statement posted on its official X handle, the electoral body said it is preparing for a busy time with a number of important polls planned in different states.
In the statement, the INEC Chairman said, “The five major elections highlighted in the new timetable include by-elections in 12 states, slated for August 16, 2025, followed by the Anambra State Governorship election on November 8, 2025. Looking into 2026, the schedule includes Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on February 21, 2026, the Ekiti State Governorship election on June 20, 2026, and the Osun State Governorship election on August 8, 2026.”
Voters’ registration to resume
Additionally, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, declared that the Continuous Voter Registration campaign would resume nationwide.
“Online pre-registration will commence on August 18, 2025, followed by in-person registration across the country from August 25, 2025. For Anambra State, ahead of its governorship election, the CVR will begin earlier, next week, and will be conducted simultaneously in all 326 wards to ensure the compilation of a new voters’ register at least 90 days before the election, as required by law”, he said.