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), dealing a significant blow to the party’s electoral ambitions.
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, dismissing the suit as statute-barred.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2110/2025, was filed by the LP and its FCT candidates against INEC. The plaintiffs alleged that the electoral body had unlawfully excluded both their duly nominated candidates and the party’s logo from the final list of participants for the FCT elections, which was published in September 2025.
According to court documents, the LP wrote to INEC Chairman on September 8, 2025, to formally complain about the exclusion. A follow-up letter was sent on October 2, 2025, but both correspondences were ignored by the Commission. The party argued that without judicial intervention, it would be unjustly barred from fielding candidates in the Area Council polls.
However, Justice Lifu ruled that the matter constituted pre-election litigation under the 1999 Constitution. The court noted that while the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, it failed to meet the constitutional timeline for such disputes. Section 285, paragraph 14(c) of the Constitution, as amended, stipulates that pre-election matters must be filed within 14 days of the cause of action arising.
The court further observed that a similar case was pending before a High Court in Nasarawa State, concluding that the LP’s actions indicated forum shopping — the practice of filing cases in multiple courts to secure a favourable outcome.
Consequently, Justice Lifu dismissed the suit in its entirety and refused all the reliefs sought against INEC.
The LP’s exclusion from the FCT elections has been linked to the protracted leadership crisis within the party, which has reportedly prevented INEC from recognising candidates submitted by the warring factions.
