Ahead of the forthcoming elections, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the Labour Party’s candidate nominations in 24 states, either manually or through its electronic nomination portal. Justice Inyang Ekwo delivered the judgment in suits filed by the party, finding that INEC had violated sections 31, 33 and 36 of the Electoral Act 2022 by rejecting the Labour Party’s candidates.
In November 2022, the Labour Party conducted substitution nominations for candidates who had withdrawn from the 2023 general election in several states. The party’s National Chairman and National Secretary formally communicated these withdrawals to INEC and notified the commission of the October 27 deadline for holding substitution‑nomination primaries. Instead of uploading the new candidates’ names, INEC claimed its nomination portal was faulty and refused to accept the list manually.
The 24 affected states include Kwara, Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos, Bayelsa, Oyo, Benue, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom and Ekiti, as well as Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Gombe, Borno, Osun, Adamawa and Cross River, among others. The court held that the Labour Party’s correspondence with INEC was credible and gave it probative value, concluding that the party should not suffer because of a non‑functional electronic portal.
Justice Ekwo agreed with the Labour Party that INEC cannot reject a nomination and candidate list submitted within 90 days of the general election. He noted that the party’s submission in the 24 states occurred more than 90 days before the 2023 election, making it timely under the law. Accordingly, the judge ordered INEC to open its website to allow the Labour Party to submit its candidate list or to accept the list manually.
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