Which Political Party is dominating in Nigeria?

Do you know all the Nigerian political parties logo and full meaning? Have a look at the list of political parties in Nigeria and see how many of them you can recognise.

The political parties in Nigeria play an important role in political processes that take place in the country (especially in comparison with a lot of other African countries). Nigerian parties enjoy the right to nominate candidates for elections at all levels.

According to Constitution, parties can be divided into several types of associations:

1) Those whose headquarters' name and address are registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC);

2) Membership in union or association is open to all Nigerian citizens, regardless of gender, ethnic or religious affiliations, and so on;

3) Those whose programs are registered according to INEC regulations.

During registration, the party must deposit N100,000. The headquarters of the parties should be located in Abuja. In addition, neither its name nor party logo should contain hints of belonging to any religious or ethnic group.

Financing of parties from abroad or parties ownership of any capital abroad is prohibited. Parties are required to submit annual reports to the National Election Commission containing data on sources of funding and expenditures.

In turn, INEC sends this data to the National Assembly, which can allocate funds from the budget to finance parties’ activities. A part of this money is divided equally between all registered parties, another part is shared based on the results of last elections.

In 2005, Nigerians were lucky to be able to choose between 29 parties which were officially registered in the country. So, how many political parties are there in Nigeria now?

Currently, according to the official website of the Independent National Electoral Commissio, there are now 45 political parties in Nigeria . That's a lot, right?

The most important players are on this list of political parties:

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Peoples Democratic Party was created in Lagos, in 1998. The party was set up as an association of more than 60 organizations defending the interests of the middle class and the elites. Currently, the priorities of the party include economic liberalization, respect for human rights, development of health care, and improvement of education programs.

At the time when Olusegun Obasanjo was a major candidate, the party became victorious at the gubernatorial elections in many Nigerian states. In 1999, during parliamentary elections, it also won a majority of seats in the Senate (59) and in the House of Representatives, it got 206 seats. During 2003 parliamentary campaign, the party received 54.63% of all the votes - 73 seats in the Senate and 213 seats in the House of Representatives.

During the last elections which took place in 2015, the party got 49 Senate seats and 125 in the House of Representatives.

All Nigeria People's Party or All Progressives Congress (APC)

This Nigerian political party was created in 1998 by merging 14 political Igbo and Hausa associations. During the parliamentary elections in 1999, the party won 24 seats in the Senate and 74 seats in the House of Representatives. During the parliamentary campaign in 2003, the party got 28 seats in the Senate and 95 seats in the House of Representatives.

Current Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari acted as a representative of this party during the presidential campaign which took place in 2003. He won 32.2% of all votes. He was also one of the representatives of All Nigeria People’s Party during the 2007 Presidential elections and got 18% of votes occupying the second place.

Though, in February 2013 everything changed. The party united with 3 other Nigerian parties:

- Action Congress of Nigeria;

- All Progressives Grand Alliance;

- Congress for Progressive Change.

Finally, the result was a creation of the All Progressives Congress.

The new name brought extreme fame to this party and its member and presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the elections in 2015.

It was the first time an opposition party won governing seat. The party got 225 seats in the House of Representatives and 60 seats in Nigerian Senate.

Alliance for Democracy (AD)

Alliance for Democracy aims to provide greater autonomy to the country regions and the right for implementation of new constitutional reforms. In the economic sphere, the party pays attention to the privatization of state enterprises and reduction of national debt amount. In the social sphere, the party stands for completely free education and health care.

During the presidential elections in 1999, All Progressives Congress and Alliance for Democracy acted as a single entity but failed to become a strong competition against the Peoples Democratic Party. As a result, Alliance for Democracy received 20 seats in the Senate and 68 in the House of Representatives. In 2003, the party won 9.74% of all votes - 6 seats in the Senate and 31 seats in the House of Representatives.