Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the nomination of the Labour Party’s candidates in 24 states ahead of this month’s elections.
The affected states are – Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos, Bayelsa, Oyo, Benue, Bauchi, Kwara, Akwa Ibom and Ekiti.
Others are: Ondo, Kaduna, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Gombe, Borno, Osun, Katsina Adamawa and Cross River.
The LP in November last year substituted its candidates who had withdrawn from the elections in some states.
The party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, and its National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, later notified INEC of the withdrawals.
The Commission, however, told the court that it refused to the candidates’ list manually because its nomination portal was not working at the time.
In his ruling on the matter, Justice Ekwo declared that INEC violated Sections 31, 33 and 36 of the 2022 Electoral Act by rejecting the LP candidates.
He, thereafter, directed the commission to recognise the candidates either manually or through its portal.
The judge noted that LP’s evidence on the exchange of letters with the INEC was credible and proceeded to attach probative value to it.
(Ripples Nigeria)
