The Labour Party (LP) has gone to court against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). They are claiming that their candidate was wrongly excluded from the upcoming senatorial by-election in Enugu State.
INEC set the by-election for Enugu North District on 20 June after the death of Senator Okey Ezea, who represented the district.
A court document seen by PREMIUM TIMES shows that the LP filed the lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, 8 June.
The LP and their candidate for the Enugu North District by-election, Simon Eze, are the plaintiffs in this case. INEC is the only defendant.
The LP is asking the court for quick hearing of the case. They also want permission to serve INEC the court documents through courier or other means.
They requested an injunction to stop INEC from publishing the final list of candidates for the by-election or taking any action that would block Mr Eze from being the LP’s candidate.
The LP believes this issue is a pre-election matter under section 285 (9) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended, along with the Federal High Court’s pre-election guidelines.
They told the court that if this issue is not heard quickly, it could be overtaken by the election and become irrelevant.
No date has been set for the hearing yet.
Ken Asogwa, the LP’s national spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday that the party informed INEC on 11 May about their plans to hold senatorial primaries on 25 May. This was after INEC announced the timetable for rerun elections across Nigeria.
“At the well-attended primary election, which attracted thousands of party members from the six local government areas that make up the senatorial district, Amb. Simon Ejike Eze, a distinguished diplomat, emerged as the consensus candidate of the party.
“However, the party is very worried that even after following all the necessary rules, they could not upload their candidate’s details on INEC’s nomination portal,” Mr Asogwa said.
He added that the LP tried to reach out to INEC through formal protests and letters until the submission deadline on 2 June. But INEC did not fix the issue.
“The Labour Party insists that it did everything legally and according to the rules in nominating its candidate.
“It is hard to understand why the party was kept out of an election where it has a clear interest,” he said.
Mr Asogwa suggested a possible reason for the exclusion. He claimed that an unnamed head of Elections and Party Monitoring in Enugu said he could not submit the report of the LP’s primary election because he was not in town that day.
“This excuse does not hold water and raises serious questions about how duties are carried out.
“The Labour Party should not suffer because of an official’s absence or lack of care.
“Political parties’ rights and electoral processes should not depend on the personal situations of individual officers,” he added.
“If that officer was not available, it was his duty or INEC’s to make sure someone else monitored and reported on the election. They should not punish a party that followed the rules.”
Mr Asogwa argued that the LP’s primaries are still valid, even with the absence of INEC officials. He stressed that the Electoral Act 2026 only requires parties to inform INEC about their primaries, which the LP did.
“The legality of the primaries cannot be undermined by INEC’s absence. INEC’s presence is not a requirement for a party primary election to be valid.
“While the Labour Party trusts the leadership of INEC under Prof. Joash Amupitan, the party urges the Commission to look into the actions of its senior staff in Enugu and take action against any official who is found guilty,” he said.
“It would be very unfair for the Labour Party to be denied the chance to present a candidate in an election called to fill a vacancy left by the death of one of its senators.
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