The Labour Party (LP) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging what it described as the unlawful exclusion of its candidate from the forthcoming Enugu North Senatorial District by election scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for June 20, 2026.
The Enugu North Senatorial District seat became vacant following the death of Senator Okey Ezea, a member of the Labour Party, on November 18, 2025.
Following the release of INEC’s timetable for by elections nationwide, including the Enugu North senatorial contest, the Labour Party formally notified the electoral commission on May 11, 2026, of its intention to conduct a primary election on May 25, 2026.
At the primary, Ambassador Simon Ejike Eze emerged as the party’s consensus candidate.
According to the party, despite complying with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, it was denied access to upload its candidate’s particulars 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,” a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Eluma Asogwa, said.
The Labour Party maintained that it fulfilled every legal and administrative requirement stipulated under the Electoral Act and INEC regulations in nominating its candidate.
The party further stated:
“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.
“This excuse is 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.”
While reaffirming its confidence in the leadership of INEC under the chairmanship of Prof. Joash Amupitan, the party called on the commission to investigate the actions of its senior officials in Enugu State and sanction any officer found culpable.
“Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust, and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process,” the statement added.
The party argued that denying it the opportunity to field a candidate in the by election would amount to a serious injustice, especially as the vacancy arose from the death of one of its serving senators.
“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.”
