The Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) has clarified its choice to withhold entry codes from the Labour Occasion for importing candidate names for the February 21, 2026, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Space Council elections.
In a press release on Wednesday, Mrs Victoria Ewa-Messi, INEC’s Director of Voter Schooling and Publicity, stated the choice stemmed from the get together’s extended management disaster, which has generated a number of court docket circumstances.
The clarification got here after Labour Occasion supporters staged a protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja, accusing the fee of intentionally excluding the get together and demanding the discharge of entry codes to add candidates’ particulars. INEC described the protest as pointless, noting that the matter is already sub judice.
Based on the fee, the inner Labour Occasion disaster was settled by a Supreme Court docket ruling on April 4, 2025, which declared the tenure of the Nationwide Govt Committee led by Julius Abure had expired.
Regardless of the ruling, the Abure-led faction went forward with primaries for the August 16, 2025 by-elections, together with these for the FCT Space Council elections.
INEC additional said that a number of lawsuits by the get together searching for entry codes had both been dismissed or are nonetheless pending.
Whereas a Excessive Court docket in Abuja granted an interim ex parte order on December 16, 2025, directing INEC to add Labour Occasion candidates, the fee famous the order was legitimate for under seven days and lapsed on December 23, 2025, with out renewal.
“The interim order lapsed on December 23, 2025, and was not prolonged. As such, there may be at the moment no subsisting court docket order for INEC to behave upon,” the fee stated.
INEC reaffirmed its dedication to due course of, stating it might proceed to respect the judiciary and await the ultimate willpower of all pending circumstances earlier than taking additional motion.