By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday January 7, 2027, cited the April 4, 2025, Supreme Court judgment on the leadership crisis in the Labour Party, LP, as a major reason for its refusal to grant access code to the party for the February, 2026, FCT Council polls.
The electoral umpire said the apex court of the land in the said ruling explicitly stated that the tenure of the Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee, NEC, has elapsed.
A statement from its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, noted that the Commission, pursuant to the Supreme Court verdict can no longer recognize Abure as the National Chairman of LP.
The Source reports that INEC’s explanation is coming against the backdrop of a protest match by the LP faction on Monday, January 5, 2025, against the exclusion of the party’s candidates from the forthcoming FCT Council elections.
The INEC stated that the entire controversy stemmed from LP’s prolonged leadership and internal crises since 2024, culminating in the said Supreme court judgment in ” Appeal No SC/CV/56/2025 ( Usman vs Labour Party ) delivered on 4th April 2025.
The Commission noted that the Supreme Court in the said ruling “unequivocally held that the tenure of the Barr. Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee had expired.”
However, the INEC expressed surprise that despite the ruling, “the Abure-led faction purportedly conducted primaries for the August 16, 2025, bye-election nationwide, and the FCT Area Council Election.
According to the statement, the development inevitably resulted in series of legal proceedings between the Commission and the LP faction.
The INEC noted that in one of the legal battles, the LP faction approached the Federal High Court Abuja in Suit No FHC/ABJ/1523/2025 -Labour Party vs INEC challenging its exclusion from the bye-election.
“Judgment was subsequently delivered on 15th August 2025, dismissing the suit and enforcing the Supreme Court’s position that Barr.Julius Abure was no longer recognized as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, and thus upholding the decision of INEC to exclude the Labour Party from the bye-election.
The Commission, however, said that the LP faction went ahead to file multiple suits in different courts across the country, “seeking to orders compelling the Commission to grant access codes for the uploading of candidates for the FCT Area Council election.
“These include Suit No NSD/LF.84/2024 before the Nasarawa state High Court Akwanga Division and later Suit No FHC/ABJ/2110/2025 seeking an order compelling INEC to issue access code to its candidates.”
Similarly, INEC informed that the LP faction filed another Suit at the FCT High Court, Jabi Division marked “Suit No CV/4792/2025 alongside a motion seeking an order compelling INEC to issue access codes.”
The Commission noted that the matter was adjourned to January 15 ,2026 after it filled its reply.
“One would have expected the party to wait for the hearing of this motion, but instead, it filed another Suit with Suit No CV/4930/2025 before the FCT High Court ,Life Camp Division seeking the same relief”
The Commission noted that although an interim order was granted in the Life Camp suit on December 16, 2025, directing it to upload the names and particulars of Labour Party candidates the court” expressly stated that the order would elapse after seven days unless extended”.
The INEC stated that the suit was promptly challenged with the interim order elapsing on December 23, 2025, and was never extended by the Court.
“Given that the matter is subjudice, INEC will continue to respect the sanctity of the judicial process, and await the final determination of the pending cases”, the Commission stated.
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