Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Labour Party has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja over what it described as the wrongful exclusion of its candidate from the Enugu North Senatorial District by‑election scheduled for June 20, 2026. The party insisted that it complied with all statutory requirements and that the electoral body has no valid reason for blocking its participation.
The Enugu North seat became vacant following the death of Senator Okey Ezea, a Labour Party lawmaker, who passed away on November 18, 2025, after a brief illness at a private hospital in Lagos. INEC subsequently scheduled the by‑election for June 20, alongside other legislative vacancies across the federation.
In a statement issued on Monday, June 8, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Ken Eluma Asogwa, said the party was forced to approach the court after INEC refused to grant it access to its nomination portal for the submission of its candidate’s particulars. According to the party, it duly notified INEC on May 11 of its intention to conduct a senatorial primary election on May 25, in full compliance with the commission’s guidelines.
The primary election, which the party said was held in a peaceful and transparent manner, produced Ambassador Simon Ejike Eze as the consensus candidate of the Labour Party for the Enugu North Senatorial District. Thousands of party members from the six local government areas of the senatorial district were said to have participated in the exercise, which was conducted in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC regulations.
Asogwa expressed deep concern that despite meeting every statutory requirement, the party 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 the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result,” he stated.
The party particularly faulted the explanation given by the Head of Elections and Party Monitoring in Enugu State, who reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party’s primary election on the grounds that he was out of town on the date of the exercise and was therefore unable to observe or monitor it. Asogwa described that explanation as untenable and negligent, arguing that a political party should not be penalised for the absence or failure of an electoral official to perform his duties.
Asogwa noted that the Electoral Act only requires political parties to notify INEC of their primaries, and does not make the physical presence of commission officials a condition for the validity of a party primary election. “Electoral rights cannot be subjected to the convenience of individual officers. INEC should have made alternative arrangements,” he said.
The party argued that it would amount to a grave injustice for the Labour Party to be excluded from an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators. “It is a double jeopardy to lose our senator and also lose the opportunity to present a candidate to succeed him,” Asogwa said. The Labour Party urged the commission to investigate the actions of its officials in Enugu State and sanction any officer found culpable.
As of the time of the INEC announcement of candidates for the Enugu North by‑election, the electoral body had cleared only three political parties for the contest. According to the final list published by INEC, the candidates cleared are Asogwa Ikeje Israel of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aneke Kingsley Chukwuebuka of the Boot Party (BP), and Ezeme Nestor Chika of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Labour Party was conspicuously absent from the list, despite its status as the party of the late senator who represented the district.
INEC had earlier stated that only parties that met the nomination deadline for submission of forms and documents would be cleared. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Enugu State, Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, confirmed that only three political parties successfully submitted the required nomination forms through the commission’s portal before the June 2 deadline.
The Labour Party, however, maintains that it attempted to comply but was technically locked out of the portal. The party is now seeking judicial intervention to compel INEC to allow it to field a candidate. The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, is praying the court to set aside INEC’s decision and order the commission to accept the nomination of Ambassador Simon Ejike Eze as the Labour Party’s candidate for the by‑election.
The by‑election, scheduled for June 20, will be conducted in 1,488 polling units spread across six local government areas: Nsukka, Igbo‑Eze North, Igbo‑Eze South, Udenu, Igbo‑Etiti, and Uzo‑Uwani. The election coincides with the Ekiti State governorship election and other legislative by‑elections across the country, placing additional pressure on INEC to resolve the legal dispute swiftly.
As of the time of this report, INEC’s Chief Press Secretary was not available to comment on the suit, and the commission has not issued any official reaction to the Labour Party’s allegations. The Federal High Court in Abuja is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the matter.
With less than two weeks to the election, the Labour Party is racing against time to secure a court order that would either compel INEC to include its candidate on the ballot or postpone the election in the district. The party has urged its members and supporters to remain calm and law‑abiding while awaiting the court’s decision.
The exclusion of the Labour Party from the Enugu North by‑election has drawn attention to the broader challenges facing the party, which has been embroiled in a protracted leadership crisis. INEC has formally recognised the Senator Nenadi Usman‑led caretaker committee as the authentic leadership of the party, a decision that has been contested by the Julius Abure‑led faction. The ongoing factional dispute has complicated the party’s ability to present a unified front in electoral matters, although the party leadership insists that the nomination of Simon Ejike Eze was conducted legitimately and in full compliance with the law.
For the people of Enugu North Senatorial District, the outcome of the court case will determine whether they have a Labour Party candidate to vote for on June 20, or whether the party that sent the late Senator Okey Ezea to the Senate will be completely shut out of the race to elect his successor.
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