Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the nomination of the Labour Party’s candidates in 24 states ahead of the forthcoming elections.
The affected states are Plateau, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Oyo, Lagos, Bayelsa, Benue, Bauchi, Kwara, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Gombe, Borno, Osun, Katsina Adamawa, Cross River, and others.
In November 2022, the Labour Party substituted its candidates who had withdrawn from the elections in some states.
The party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, and its National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, notified INEC of the withdrawals later.
However, the Commission told the court that it refused to accept the candidates’ list manually because its nomination portal was not working at the time.
Justice Ekwo in his ruling declared that INEC violated Sections 31, 33 and 36 of the 2022 Electoral Act by rejecting the LP candidates.
He directed the commission to recognize the candidates either manually or through its portal.
The judge stated that Labour Party’s evidence on the exchange of letters with the INEC was credible and attached probative value to it.
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