Labour Party sues INEC over exclusion from Enugu North by-election

Labour Party has approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging alleged wrongful exclusion of its candidate from the Enugu North Senatorial District by-election scheduled for June 20.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, made this known in a statement signed on Monday in Abuja.

Our correspondent reports that the Enugu North Senatorial District seat became vacant following the demise of the late Sen. Okey Ezea of the Labour Party on Nov. 18, 2025

Asogwa said that the party was deeply concerned that in spite of 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 June 2, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondences to the commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result,” he said.

The spokesman insisted that the party fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC’s extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate.

He said said that Labour Party found it difficult to understand the basis upon which it had been excluded from an election in which it had a legitimate and undeniable stake.

“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 ground that he was out of town on the day the exercise was conducted.

“This excuse is untenable and raises serious questions about the discharge of official responsibilities.

“Labour Party cannot be made to suffer the consequences of an official’s absence, negligence, incompetence or dereliction of duty.

“Electoral processes and the constitutional rights of political parties cannot be subjected to the convenience or personal circumstances of individual officers,” he said.

Asogwa maintained that if the officer was unavailable, it was incumbent upon him or INEC in Enugu to ensure that appropriate arrangements were made for the monitoring and reporting of the exercise.

According to him, INEC should not be penalising a political party that duly complied with all statutory requirements.

Asogwa stated that the Electoral Act only requires political parties to duly notify INEC of their primaries, adding that the party complied fully with this statutory requirement.

He said that the legality and validity of the exercise could not be vitiated by INEC’s absence, as neither the Electoral Act nor the commission’s regulation made its physical presence a mandatory condition for the conduct of a party primary election.

While restating the party’s confidence in INEC under the chairmanship of Prof. Joash Amupitan, he, however called on the commission investigate the actions taken by its staff members in Enugu and take decisive action against anyone found culpable.

“Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

“It would amount to a grave injustice for 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.

“Such an outcome would not only undermine the rights of the party and its supporters but it tends to diminish the democratic choices available to the people of Enugu North senatorial district in the coming by-election.

“As the party places its confidence in the impartiality and wisdom of the Nigerian judiciary, it urges all its members and supporters in Enugu North and across the country to remain calm while the matter is being determined by the courts,” Asogwa said.