The Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, upheld the exclusion of Labour Party (LP) candidates from the forthcoming Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), scheduled for February 21.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, the court declined to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the list of LP candidates nominated to participate in the election. The court consequently dismissed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2110/2025, which was filed by the Labour Party and its FCT candidates against INEC.
The plaintiffs had told the court that INEC, in September 2025, published its final list of candidates for the FCT Area Council polls but allegedly excluded the names of LP’s duly nominated candidates. The party further claimed that on September 8, 2025, it wrote to the Chairman of INEC to protest not only the omission of its candidates but also the exclusion of its party logo from the list of political parties cleared to participate in the election.
According to the LP, a follow-up letter dated October 2, 2025, on the same issues was ignored by the electoral body, prompting the party to seek judicial intervention. The plaintiffs argued that without the court’s intervention, the party would be unfairly prevented from fielding candidates in the impending council polls.
However, in his ruling, Justice Lifu held that the matter fell within the category of pre-election disputes as defined under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
The court observed that while the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, the cause of action, namely, the alleged exclusion of LP candidates by INEC, occurred on October 22, 2025. It noted that Section 285(14)(c) of the Constitution clearly stipulates that pre-election matters must be filed within 14 days of the occurrence of the cause of action.
Based on this constitutional provision, the court ruled that the suit was not properly before it and consequently dismissed the case, thereby leaving INEC’s position on the exclusion of LP candidates for the FCT Area Council elections unchanged.
The judgment effectively confirms that the Labour Party will not participate in the February 21 Area Council polls in the Federal Capital Territory.
