FCT area council polls: LP candidates protest exclusion, storm party, INEC headquarters

…unresolved factional crisis blamed for party’s fate

Protesting Labour Party (LP) candidates stormed the headquarters of the party in Utako, Abuja, on Monday to register their displeasure over exclusion from the forthcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The candidates had earlier visited the headquarters of the commission in Abuja, where they called on the Chairman of the electoral umpire, Professor Joash Omupitan, to upload their names to the commission’s portal.

They were acting upon a December 29, 2025, Abuja High Court injunction directing the umpire to upload the names within 48 hours, an order INEC, which has been referencing the leadership crisis in the LP, has yet to execute.

Meanwhile, the FCT will hold area council elections on February 21 to elect chairmen and councillors for the six area councils of Abuja Municipal, Bwari, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali.

However, of the 16 political parties that registered for the polls, the LP has been denied access to the code to upload the names of its candidates, owing largely to the internal leadership crisis in the party.

The National Working Committee (NWC), led by Barrister Julius Abure, says it has a mandate running from 2024 and was recently reaffirmed by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party.`

The Abure-led NWC argues that the reaffirmation complied with the April 4 judgment of the Supreme Court that said the power to regulate their internal affairs lay with the political parties.

However, the Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the LP, chaired by former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, also relying on the same Supreme Court judgment, doesn’t recognise the Abure leadership on the grounds that his tenure had long expired, with the implication that INEC refused to grant full recognition to any of them.

The National Publicity Secretary, Mr Obiora Ifoh, confirmed on Monday that INEC has yet to upload the names of the candidates.

He stated, “Candidates of the Labour Party in the February 21, 2026 FCT council election and some members of the party today 5/1/26 protested at the INEC headquarters over the commission’s failure to upload the party candidates for the election.  

“An FCT high court on 29/12/25 directed INEC to within 48 hours to upload the names and particulars of the candidates. INEC is yet to honour the order.”

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Addressing the protesters at the party’s office, Abure commended them for not giving up in fighting for their democratic rights within the limits of the law.

He expressed confidence in the ability of the candidates to manage the affairs of the FCT if elected into office.

“It demonstrates that you have the initiative, you have the capacity to work for the people of the FCT.

“I want to appreciate the initiative of going to stay at the INEC office”, he said.

 “We have done what we ought to do. We have worked to get here and we will continue to work for you.”

The Nigerian Tribune had reported on December 29 that there was heightened uncertainty over the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the LP participating in the polls because of the leadership crisis the two opposition parties were preoccupied with.

In both the PDP and the LP, according to investigations, the electoral umpire had informed their warring factions that none would be recognised so long as the internal squabbles festered.

For the PDP, there is the Tanimu Turaki-led NWC, which emerged from its November 15 Ibadan convention. A second camp backed by the FCT Minister Mr Nyesom Wike, has Honourable Mohammed Abdulrahman as the Acting Chairman. 

The Wike-backed camp is planning a separate national convention to be held in January as the parties await the outcome of litigation before the courts.

A search conducted by Tribune Online also indicated that the situation in the LP is not different, as Usman leads a parallel INWC to Abure’s NWC.

While the INWC recently installed caretaker committees in states across the Federation, the Abure-led NWC concluded its own ward, local government and state congresses.

Checks by the newspaper revealed that INEC blanked out the LP from the list of parties it recognised for the FCT area council polls, an indication of non-participation in the forthcoming elections.

On its part, the Abdulrahman-led faction of the PDP said the party was unlikely to suffer the fate of the LP because its case was different from that of the LP.

The National Publicity Secretary of the camp, Mr Haruna Junguda Mohammed, explained that once the Court of Appeal determined the case before it over the leadership of the party, there would be no basis to disqualify the PDP from the area council elections.

He said, “The issues affecting LP and the PDP may appear similar but they are not the same. 

“You are aware of the outcome of our meeting with INEC and once the Court of Appeal makes a decision, hopefully in January, then all stumbling blocks will be eliminated and once that is resolved, we expect INEC to allow our party to participate in the election. 

“We are aware that these elections have a time frame within which they must be conducted but we are optimistic that INEC as a law-abiding institution, will make adequate arrangements to accommodate the interests of the PDP, taking into consideration the issues before the appeal court, which are likely to be decided before the election.  

“We are optimistic about fielding candidates in the FCT council polls.”

But, on its part, the Turaki-led NWC of the PDP argued that INEC had no choice but to upload the names of candidates submitted by political parties, adding that the PDP had long forwarded its names to the electoral umpire.

The National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, also advised INEC to be guided by the Supreme Court judgment in the case involving the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Responding to inquiries by the Tribune Online, Ememobong said, “The issue of fielding candidates for the FCT elections is a concluded matter as we had uploaded all the required information on the INEC portal.”