JUST IN: INEC Disowns Julius Abure-Led Labour Party
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invalidated the list of all candidates submitted by the Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party (LP).
The commission also rejected all the candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the nationwide by-elections scheduled for August 16, 2025, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council elections.
Meanwhile, Abure’s faction has described INEC’s action as unlawful and an abuse of power.
But in a swift reaction, the Senator Nenadi Usman has described the decision of INEC as a welcome development, saying it was in line with the Supreme Court’s judgment of April 4, 2025.
It was gathered that the final list of candidates published by INEC excluded all the candidates presented by Abure and his factional National Working Committee (NWC), and all the candidates submitted by the SDP.
According to confirmation report by THISDAY, on the development, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure’s faction, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, said the party was aware of its rights as specified in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Acts 2022 as amended, as regards its powers to sponsor candidates in elections.
“The party is also aware that the INEC has no powers to either stop it from sponsoring candidates nor cherry-pick elections where it deems fit for our party to field candidates.
”It is on record that no court in Nigeria, including the Supreme Court, has derecognised the present leadership of the Labour Party. It is also a fact that the April 4, 2025 judgment of the Supreme Court ruled only on the lack of jurisdiction of the lower court and Court of Appeal,” Ifoh said.
According to him, the Supreme Court did not rule on the substantive matter as courts, including the Supreme Court, are barred from entertaining cases on the internal matters of any political party.
Ifoh noted that the Supreme Court, in its wisdom, ruled that parties should resolve their problems within the available mechanism as provided by its constitution.
”At no point did the Supreme Court empower INEC to interfere with the internal matters of the political party.
”We are by this statement asking INEC to enlist our duly nominated candidates for the August 16 by-election without further delay, and also refrain from interfering with the internal matters of the Labour Party. INEC cannot arrogate to itself the powers of the courts or give different interpretations to a clear judgment of the apex court,” Ifoh added.
On its part, the Usman-led faction of the party said the decision of INEC indicates that the regulatory body is now ready to implement the April 4, 2025, judgment of the Supreme Court.
