The Labour Party has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission before the Federal High Court in Abuja over what it described as the wrongful exclusion of its candidate from the forthcoming Enugu North Senatorial District by-election scheduled for June 20, 2026.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday.
Asogwa said they were forced to approach the court after INEC allegedly failed to provide access to its nomination portal for the submission of their candidate’s particulars despite the party’s compliance with all statutory requirements.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of the senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District, Okey Ezea, a Labour Party lawmaker, who died on November 18, 2025.
In his statement, the spokesman explained that they duly notified INEC on May 11 of their intention to conduct a senatorial primary election on May 25 in line with the commission’s guidelines.
He said, “The party is deeply concerned that despite complying with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, it was denied access to upload the particulars of its candidate on INEC’s nomination portal.
“Up until the close of the submission window on 2nd June 2026, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondence to the Commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result.
“We have approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the wrongful exclusion of its candidate from the forthcoming Enugu North Senatorial District by-election.”
Continuing, the party maintained that it fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC’s extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate.
Asogwa argued that Simon Ejike Eze emerged as the consensus candidate at the primary election attended by party members from the six local government areas in the district.
He lamented that several efforts, including formal protests and correspondence to the electoral commission, failed to resolve the issue.
“It is both disturbing and deeply concerning that the head of Elections and Party Monitoring (EPM) in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party’s primary election on the flimsy ground that he was out of town on the date of the exercise and was therefore unable to observe or monitor it,” Asogwa stated.
While describing the explanation as untenable, the party emphasised that a political party should not be penalised for the absence or failure of an electoral official to perform his duties.
“It would amount to a grave injustice for the Labour Party to be denied the opportunity of presenting a candidate in an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators,” the statement read.
The party further urged the commission to investigate the actions of its officials in Enugu State and sanction any officer found culpable.
While expressing confidence in the leadership of INEC, Asogwa said that they are relying on the judiciary to ensure that their rights and those of their supporters are protected.
Efforts to get the reactions of the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, were unsuccessful.
As of the time of filing this story, Oketola’s line was unreachable.
The Enugu North Senatorial District seat became vacant following the death of Ezea, who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party. INEC subsequently fixed June 20, 2026, for the conduct of a by-election to fill the vacancy.
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