Abure-led LP Threatens Legal Action Against INEC Over Omission of Candidates from August 16 Bye-Election

The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party (LP) has threatened to take legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) if it excludes its candidates from the ballot for the upcoming bye-election scheduled for August 16, 2025.

This follows INEC’s exclusion of LP candidates from the ballot for the August 2 by-election, a decision that led to a protest march to the commission’s Abuja headquarters last week.

The affected candidates emerged from primaries conducted by the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC), despite ongoing leadership disputes within the party.

In a statement on Tuesday, the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, demanded that INEC publish the names of the LP candidates and ensure the party’s logo appears on the ballot.

Ifoh cited the Electoral Act 2022, which permits any political party excluded from an election to seek judicial redress.

“The leadership of the Labour Party has advised that if INEC proceeds with the August 16 bye-election without including our candidates’ names and logo on the ballot, it will move to nullify the election in accordance with the law,” the statement warned.