From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the non-issuance of access codes to Labour Party candidates for the 2026 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election to the party’s lingering leadership crisis and a series of unresolved court cases.
INEC made the clarification in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja following a protest by some Labour Party supporters at the commission’s headquarters on Monday.
The protesters alleged that INEC had excluded the party’s candidates from the FCT Area Council poll scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2026.
The Commission, in a statement signed by its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Victoria Eta-Messi, said the Labour Party has been embroiled in prolonged internal disputes since 2024, which culminated in a Supreme Court judgment delivered on April 4, 2025, in Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025 (Usman v. Labour Party).
INEC said the apex court ruled that the issue of party leadership is an internal affair, effectively setting aside lower court rulings that had previously recognized the Julius Abure-led executive.
Despite the leadership vacuum created by the legal disputes, INEC noted that the Abure-led faction went ahead to conduct primaries for the August 16, 2025 bye-elections and the forthcoming FCT Area Council election, actions the commission said lacked legal foundation.
The commission recalled that the same faction had challenged its exclusion from the 2025 bye-election at the Federal High Court, Abuja, but the suit was dismissed on August 15, 2025, with the court upholding INEC’s position regarding the expiration of the leadership’s tenure.
INEC further disclosed that the Labour Party subsequently instituted multiple suits in different courts, including the Nasarawa State High Court, the Federal High Court, Abuja, and two divisions of the FCT High Court, all seeking orders to compel the commission to issue access codes for the upload of its candidates for the FCT poll.
While an interim ex parte order was granted by the FCT High Court, Life Camp Division, on December 16, 2025, directing INEC to upload the party’s candidates, the commission said the order expressly lapsed after seven days and was not extended.
