Court backs INEC on exclusion of LP candidates in FCT polls

The Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the exclusion of candidates of the Labour Party (LP) from the forthcoming Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Delivering judgement on Wednesday, Justice Peter Lifu declined to grant an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the list of LP candidates for the February 21 polls.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2110/2025, was instituted by the Labour Party and its FCT candidates, who alleged that INEC unlawfully omitted their names and party logo from the final list of candidates released in September 2025. They also claimed that letters written to INEC on September 8 and October 2, 2025, protesting the omission, were ignored.

The party argued that without the court’s intervention, it would be unfairly excluded from participating in the Area Council elections.

However, Justice Lifu ruled that the matter was a pre-election dispute as provided under the 1999 Constitution. The court held that although the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, the cause of action—the exclusion of LP candidates—arose on October 22, 2025. Under Section 285(14)(c) of the Constitution, such cases must be filed within 14 days of the cause of action.

The court further noted that a similar matter was already pending before a High Court in Nasarawa State, adding that the LP’s actions amounted to forum shopping.

Consequently, the court dismissed the suit for being statute-barred and refused all the reliefs sought against INEC.

Reports indicated that the prolonged leadership crisis within the Labour Party influenced INEC’s refusal to recognise the list of candidates submitted by the party’s rival factions for the FCT Area Council elections.