INEC excludes LP candidates from FCT Poll

Labour Party candidates have been excluded from the forthcoming local government elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Daily Trust reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed February 21, 2026, for the Area Council elections.

However, the commission has not issued access codes to the party for the upload of its candidates, saying there is no valid court order compelling it to do so.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Victoria Eta-Messi, said the Labour Party’s challenge stemmed from “prolonged internal leadership disputes since 2024,” which, it noted, were settled by the Supreme Court in April 2025″.

According to the commission, the Supreme Court in Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025 (Usman v. Labour Party) “unequivocally held that the tenure of the Barr. Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee had expired.”

INEC added that despite the judgment, “the Abure-led faction purportedly conducted primaries for the August 16, 2025, bye-election nationwide and the FCT Area Council Election.”

The commission further recalled that the Abure-led faction had earlier challenged its exclusion from the August 2025 bye-election at the Federal High Court, Abuja, but the suit was dismissed. It said judgment delivered on August 15, 2025, “enforced the Supreme Court’s position that Barr. Julius Abure was no longer recognised as the National Chairman of the Labour Party and thus upheld the decision of INEC to exclude the Labour Party from the bye-election.”

INEC disclosed that the party subsequently filed several suits in different courts, all seeking orders to compel the commission to issue access codes for the FCT Area Council election. These include cases at the Nasarawa State High Court, the Federal High Court in Abuja, and two divisions of the FCT High Court.

On the most recent case at the FCT High Court, Life Camp Division, INEC said an interim order was granted on December 16, 2025, directing it to upload the Labour Party candidates. However, the commission noted that “the Court expressly stated that the Order would lapse after seven days unless extended.”

INEC explained that after it filed its defence challenging the competence and jurisdiction of the court, “the interim Order consequently lapsed on 23rd December, 2025 and was not extended.” It stressed that “there is presently no subsisting Court Order for INEC to act upon.”

The commission said since the matter is before the courts, it would not take any action that could undermine the judicial process. “Given that the matter is sub judice, INEC will continue to respect the sanctity of the judicial process and await the final determination of the pending cases,” the statement said.

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