The Federal Excessive Courtroom, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, upheld the exclusion of candidates of the Labour Get together from the forthcoming Space Council elections within the Federal Capital Territory.
The court docket, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, declined to compel the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee to simply accept and publish the listing of candidates the LP nominated to take part within the election billed for February 21.
It dismissed a go well with marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2110/2025, which the LP and its candidates within the FCT lodged in opposition to INEC.
The plaintiff instructed the court docket that INEC had, in September 2025, printed its ultimate listing of candidates, with the LP’s duly nominated candidates unlawfully excluded.
The LP additional instructed the court docket that on September 8, 2025, it wrote a letter to the Chairman of INEC to complain in regards to the exclusion of not simply the names of its nominated candidates but in addition the omission of its emblem from the manifest of political events that can partake within the FCT election.
It decried that one other letter to INEC on October 2, 2025, over the identical concern, was ignored by the Fee.
LP pleaded that until the court docket intervened, it will be unjustly excluded from fielding candidates within the impending FCT Council ballot.
In the meantime, in his judgement on Wednesday, Justice Lifu confused that the case of the plaintiff, underneath the 1999 Structure, fell underneath pre-election litigation.
The court docket famous that not one of the events disputed the truth that whereas the go well with was filed on October 7, 2025, the reason for motion, which was the exclusion of LP candidates by INEC, occurred on October 22, 2025.
It held that part 285 of paragraph 14(c) of the 1999 Structure, as amended, clearly stipulated that such a pre-election matter should be filed inside 14 days after the reason for motion arose.
In line with the court docket, it not had the jurisdiction to intervene within the matter for the reason that case of the plaintiff had change into statute barred, contemplating that it was not filed inside the statutory interval.
Furthermore, Justice Lifu mentioned his consideration was drawn to the same case pending earlier than a Excessive Courtroom in Nasarawa State, which additionally concerned the identical events.
He held that the existence of each fits created the impression that the plaintiff engaged in discussion board procuring.
Consequently, he dismissed the go well with for being statute barred and in addition declined to grant any of the prayers the plaintiff sought in opposition to INEC.
Recall that the protracted management tussle within the LP was on the root of INEC’s resolution to not recognise the listing of candidates the warring factions submitted for the FCT ballot.