The Federal High Court ruled on the Labour Party’s exclusion from the upcoming Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory scheduled for February 21, 2026.
The court, sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission was right to leave out Labour Party candidates from the election. The decision followed a suit filed by the Labour Party and its affected candidates, asking the court to order INEC to accept and publish their names.
The Labour Party told the court that INEC released its final list of candidates in September 2025 without including its nominees. It said the party had formally written to the electoral body on September 8, 2025, to complain about the omission of its candidates and party logo from the election materials. According to the party, a second letter sent on October 2, 2025, also did not receive any response.
The party argued that without the court’s intervention, it would be shut out of the FCT council elections unfairly. It asked the court to compel INEC to reverse its decision and allow its candidates to participate in the poll.
In its ruling, the court held that the matter was a pre-election case under the 1999 Constitution. Justice Lifu noted that although the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, the actual cause of action arose on October 22, 2025, when the exclusion became effective. The court explained that the law requires such cases to be filed within 14 days of the cause of action.
Based on this timing, the court found that the Labour Party failed to meet the constitutional requirement and dismissed the case, thereby allowing INEC’s decision to stand and keeping the party out of the FCT Area Council elections.
CLICK THE LINK TO READ FULL LIST
- Advertisement -
Comments are closed.