A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has upheld the exclusion of Labour Party (LP) candidates from the FCT Area Council elections scheduled for February 21, 2026.
Justice Peter Lifu ruled that the suit filed by LP was statute-barred, as it wasn’t filed within the 14-day statutory period required for pre-election matters.
The court also noted that the LP’s case involved forum shopping, given a similar pending case in Nasarawa State High Court.
The LP had argued that INEC unlawfully excluded its candidates and logo from the final list of contestants, despite letters of complaint sent in September and October 2025.
However, INEC cited a Supreme Court ruling that the tenure of LP’s national chairman, Julius Abure, had expired, justifying its decision to exclude the party’s candidates.
It will be recalled that the protracted leadership tussle in the LP was at the root of INEC’s decision not to recognise the list of candidates the warring factions submitted for the FCT poll