By RhemDy News
The Labour Party has sought the prayer of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja Abuja to reverse the exclusion of its candidate from the forthcoming Enugu North Senatorial District bye-election scheduled to take place on June 20, 2026.
RhemDy News recalls that the seat for the Enugu North Senatorial District became vacant following the demise on November 18, 2025, of late Senator Okey Ezea of the Labour Party.
Spokesman of the party, Ken Asogwa, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said, following the release of timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of bye-elections across the country, in compliance with the Commission's guidelines, formally notified INEC on May 11, 2026, of its intention to conduct its senatorial primary for the purpose of the bye-election on May 25.
"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.
"The party is, however, deeply concerned that despite complying with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, it was denied access to upload the particulars of its candidate on INEC's nomination portal.
"Up until the close of the submission window on 2nd June 2026, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondences to the Commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result," Asogwa stated.
The party maintained that it fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC's extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate.
"It is therefore difficult to understand the basis upon which the party has been excluded from an election in which it has a legitimate and undeniable stake.
"It is both disturbing and deeply concerning that the head of Elections and Party Monitoring (EPM) in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party's primary election on the flimsy ground that he was out of town on the date of the exercise and was therefore unable to observe or monitor it," the statement said.
The Labour Party insisted that the excuse was "untenable and raises serious questions about the discharge of official responsibilities.
"The Labour Party cannot be made to suffer the consequences of an official's absence, negligence, incompetence, or dereliction of duty. Electoral processes and the constitutional rights of political parties cannot be subjected to the convenience or personal circumstances of individual officers.
"If indeed the officer was unavailable, it was incumbent upon him or the INEC in Enugu to ensure that appropriate arrangements were made for the monitoring and reporting of the exercise, rather than penalising a political party that duly complied with all statutory requirements.
"In any case, the Electoral Act only requires political parties to duly notify INEC of their primaries, and it is worth restating that the Labour Party complied fully with this statutory requirement. In effect, the legality and validity of the exercise cannot be vitiated by INEC's absence, as neither the Electoral Act nor INEC's regulation makes INEC's physical presence a mandatory condition for the conduct or validity of a party primary election."
Asogwa said while the party continues to repose confidence in the Professor Joash Amupitan-led INEC, the party called on the Commission to immediately investigate the actions taken by its senior staff in Enugu and take decisive action against any official found culpable.
"Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust, and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
"It would amount to a grave injustice for the Labour Party to be denied the opportunity of presenting a candidate in an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators. Such an outcome would not only undermine the rights of the party and its supporters but also amount to a double jeopardy for the party, even as it tends to diminish the democratic choices available to the people of Enugu North Senatorial District in the coming by-election.
"As the party places its confidence in the impartiality and wisdom of the Nigerian judiciary, it urges all its members and supporters in Enugu North and across the country to remain calm, law-abiding, and peaceful while the matter is being determined by the courts," the statement said.
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