JUST-IN: Court Upholds Exclusion Of Labour Party Candidates From FCT Area Council Polls

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

In a judgement delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, the court declined to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the list of LP nominees for the February 21 polls.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2110/2025, was filed by the LP and its FCT candidates, who claimed that INEC unlawfully omitted their names and party logo from the final list of candidates published in September 2025. The party also said its letters of complaint to INEC on September 8 and October 2, 2025, went unanswered.

LP argued that without court intervention, it would be unjustly excluded from the Area Council elections.

Justice Lifu, however, ruled that the case fell under pre-election litigation under the 1999 Constitution. The court noted that while the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, the cause of action—the exclusion of LP candidates—occurred on October 22, 2025. Section 285, paragraph 14(c) of the Constitution requires such matters to be filed within 14 days of the cause of action.

The court also observed a similar case pending before a High Court in Nasarawa State, concluding that the LP’s actions suggested forum shopping.

As a result, the court dismissed the suit for being statute-barred and refused all the prayers sought against INEC.

The protracted leadership tussle within the LP was reportedly at the root of INEC’s decision not to recognise the candidates submitted by the warring factions for the FCT Area Council elections.