Members of the Labour Party, LP, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on Monday took to the streets to protest against the exclusion of the party’s candidates from the ballot in the Area Council elections in Abuja scheduled for February 21.
They described the move as a conspiracy to disenfranchise them despite the existence of a subsisting court order.
During the protest at the National Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), they vowed to occupy the premises until the commission uploaded the party on the ballot.
However, INEC National Commissioner Abdullahi Abdul Zuru said one of the challenges facing the commission is “conflicting court orders.” He assured that, as a law-abiding organisation, the commission would act on the court order.
“I am here on behalf of the commission to speak to you on this court order that you have presented to us. I can assure you that I will personally hand over the court order to the chairman and the commission will definitely act on this,” he said.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “INEC, Upload Labour Party Candidates,” “INEC, Obey and Upload Labour Party,” “INEC, You are not a political party,” “INEC, obey court order,” “INEC, don’t deny us our rights to participate in the forthcoming local council election,” and “No Labour Party in the ballot, No council election in FCT.”
The Publicity Secretary of LP in the FCT, Eyisi Okey Nwoke, told Arise News during the protest that Julius Abure is the recognised national chairman of the Labour Party.
He said, “We are here on a peaceful protest. We are members of the Labour Party in FCT. We are here because INEC, which is supposed to be independent conductors of elections, has decided to exclude the Labour Party from the February Area Council elections.
“The genesis of this conspiracy is 2023, when we denied other political parties from making up to 25% in the FCT. And it’s a constitutional requirement for somebody to be declared President. But that was overturned. If not, our candidate in the 2023 election would have been the President.
“So this is a conspiracy concocted to ensure that our popularity will no longer come into play. But they are lying. They are living in delusion because Labour Party must participate in this Area Council election, and nobody will stop our candidates.
“How can INEC become lawless? They don’t obey court orders. There is a court order that they must upload the Labour Party on the ballot. They have not done so to date. So, we are demanding that INEC must upload candidates of Labour Party now. We have available to us instruments of the law.
“We are law-abiding. We are a peaceful party. The people of FCT are followers of Labour Party. So we must be uploaded. The people are asking INEC to obey court order and upload candidates of Labour Party now.”
Nwoke added that the crisis in LP was also contrived by detractors trying to infiltrate the party.
“They want to wander into Labour Party to spoil our party, and we resisted it and chased them out. So we don’t have factions. They know that in the FCT, it is Labour Party. Nothing for any other political party. It’s Labour Party. That is why they have ganged up.”
The Chairman of LP in the North Central Zone, Princess Licia Igbe, insisted that INEC must comply with the court order.
She said, “We are actually not causing any uproar, we are Nigerians and we are civilised people. We are here on a civil protest, which is our right constitutionally to INEC. We are demanding what is due to us as members of the Labour Party in the FCT.
“We are here demanding that we should be uploaded because we have a court order concerning the FCT elections coming up on February 21, 2026, and Labour Party candidates are not on the ballot. In fact, they are not uploaded, and we don’t know the reason why INEC should disenfranchise Labour Party.
“We are Nigerians, INEC cannot kill our democracy. We have the right to vote; everybody has a choice of a political party. Nobody has the right to stop anyone from joining the party they want to belong to.
“So, please, we want INEC to do the right thing. Let them work with integrity so that we can have hope, belief, and trust in them for the 2027 general election.”
INEC, through its spokesperson, reiterated that the commission has never disregarded or disobeyed any court order.
Nwoke explained, “We will always obey court orders, and that is why more often than not you see on our portals compliance with court orders.
“Some of the challenges you normally have been due to conflicting court orders. Those are what normally create problems. When you have conflicting court orders, you just have to act on the prevailing court order.
“But it’s not a decision that I can make as an individual. It’s not a decision the chairman makes as an individual. It’s a decision that the commission makes as a body.
“So when we meet as a commission, the commission will be briefed by the appropriate members. I can’t give you a date because giving you a date means that I am committing the commission. I’m a National Commissioner. I’m not the Chairman. Even the Chairman, the way we operate, will not take a unilateral decision on this.”
