Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has clarified its decision to withhold access codes from the Labour Party for uploading the names of candidates for the February 21, 2026, Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Ewa-Messi, INEC attributed the decision to the party’s prolonged leadership crisis, which has given rise to multiple court cases.
The clarification followed a protest by Labour Party supporters at INEC headquarters in Abuja, where demonstrators accused the Commission of deliberately excluding the party from the election and demanded the release of the access codes needed to upload candidates’ details.
INEC described the protest as unnecessary, stressing that the issue is already before the courts and is therefore sub judice.
According to the Commission, the internal crisis within the Labour Party was settled by a Supreme Court judgment delivered on April 4, 2025, which ruled that the tenure of the National Executive Committee led by Julius Abure had expired.
INEC stated that, despite this ruling, the Abure-led faction went ahead to conduct primaries for the August 16, 2025 by-elections across the country, including those for the FCT Area Council elections.
The Commission further explained that several suits filed by the party to compel INEC to issue access codes had either been dismissed or are still pending.
While acknowledging that a High Court in Abuja granted an interim ex parte order on December 16, 2025 directing it to upload Labour Party candidates, INEC noted that the order was valid for only seven days and was not renewed.
“The interim order lapsed on December 23, 2025 and was not extended. As such, there is currently no subsisting court order for INEC to act upon,” the Commission said.
INEC reaffirmed its commitment to due process, stating that it would continue to respect the judiciary and await the final determination of all pending cases before taking any further steps.
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