LP sues INEC over Enugu North by-election exclusion as the Labour Party takes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the Federal High Court in Abuja. The party challenged what it called the wrongful exclusion of its candidate from the Enugu North Senatorial District by-election scheduled for June 20, 2026.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday.
Asogwa said the party approached the court after INEC allegedly denied it access to the nomination portal for uploading its candidate’s details despite meeting all legal requirements.
LP sues INEC over Enugu North by-election exclusion following a dispute over the nomination process. Asogwa said the party informed INEC on May 11 about its planned senatorial primary election held on May 25 in line with the commission’s guidelines.
He said, “The party is 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 June 2, 2026, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondence to the commission, seeking a resolution, but those efforts failed.
“We have approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the wrongful exclusion of our candidate from the forthcoming Enugu North Senatorial District by-election.
”The party maintained that it fulfilled all legal and administrative requirements under the Electoral Act and INEC regulations in nominating its candidate.
Asogwa said Simon Ejike Eze emerged as the consensus candidate during the primary election attended by party members from the six local government areas in the district.
He added that repeated protests and correspondence with INEC failed to resolve the matter.
According to him, an official in INEC’s Elections and Party Monitoring Department in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the party’s primary election report because he was out of town on the day of the exercise.
The Labour Party described the explanation as unacceptable and argued that a political party should not suffer because an electoral official failed to perform his duties.
The party said denying it the opportunity to field a candidate in an election meant to replace one of its late senators would amount to injustice.
It also urged INEC to investigate the actions of its officials in Enugu State and sanction anyone found culpable.
Asogwa expressed confidence in INEC’s leadership and said the party was relying on the judiciary to protect its rights and those of its supporters.
Efforts to get a response from the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Dayo Oketola, were unsuccessful as his phone line could not be reached.
The Enugu North Senatorial District seat became vacant after the death of Senator Okey Ezea, a Labour Party lawmaker, on November 18, 2025. INEC later fixed June 20, 2026, for the by-election to fill the vacancy.
