LP Commends INEC For Excluding Party From Bye-elections

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

In a classic case of a house against itself, the Anambra State Chapter of the Labour Party, LP, loyal to the Senator Nenadi Esther Usman-led Interim National Working Committee, NWC, has hailed the exclusion of candidates nominated by the Julius Abure faction from the August 16 State and National Assemblies bye-elections in the State by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. LP, based on the INEC  decision is fielding  no candidate.

It described the action as a signpost to the readiness of the Electoral Umpire towards respecting the rule of law.

The Source reports that the Supreme Court had, on April 4, 2025, sacked the Abure-led National Executive Committee, NEC, which was enthroned by the controversial Nnewi Convention earlier in 2024.

The Apex Court  held that the tenure of Abure and others had clearly expired long before the said Nnewi Convention that purportedly handed them a second term in office.

At a media briefing on Thursday August 14, 2025 in Awka, the State Capital, Chairman of the LP in the State, Peter Okoye, warned party members and the general public against transacting party business or any other activities with Abure and his factional leaders

He insisted that going by the facts of the Supreme Court ruling as contained in the Certified True Copy, CTC, the only recognized NWC of the LP is that headed by Senator Usman.

According to Okoye, the Anambra LP has no candidate in next Saturday’s bye-election in the State.

This is as he insisted that the LP has no alliance of any kind with the African Democratic Congress, ADC, as far as  the bys-election is concerned.

The LP Chairman, therefore, urged members and supporters to come out in their numbers to vote only candidates with clean and credible records.

“Our Party is law-abiding ,and will always operate within the confines of the law”, Okoye stated.

It would be recalled that the INEC had earlier refused to recognize the LP’s candidate for the bye-elections in Edo State .

But unlike in the case of Edo State where the Commission cited the Party’s failure to formally declare its interest in the process as a major reason for its action, that of Anambra State remains hazy.

Piqued by the situation, Abure, on Wednesday August 13, warned of imminent constitutional crisis and legal proceedings  should the INEC fail to reverse its decision.

Peter Obi, the party’s presidential flag bearer in the 2023 general elections, had already publicly declared support for the Wife of the slain LP member that represented Onitsha North I State Constituency, Mrs Justina Azuka, who is angling to succeed her husband on the ADC platform.