THE NATION
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to henceforth, accord the Julius Abure-led leadership of the Labour Party (LP) all rights and privileges due to any registered political party in the country.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order on Tuesday, October 8, in a judgment on a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024 filed by the LP, with INEC listed as the sole defendant.
Justice Nwite held that given the credible and verifiable documentary evidence presented by the plaintiff, the INEC failed in its “attempt to impeach the validity of the leadership of the plaintiff.”
The judge added: “I hereby make an order compelling the defendant (INEC) to accord the plaintiff political party, under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure, all the rights and privileges accorded a political party duly registered in Nigeria.”
He also ordered INEC to conduct, for staff of the plaintiff, a refresher training for the upload of LP’s agents into the INEC portal and to issue the plaintiff (Abure) the Access Code required to access INEC’s portal for the Ondo Governorship Election scheduled to hold on 16th November 2024, as already done for staff of other political parties.
The LP had sued, claiming to have been excluded from participating in the refresher training conducted in August by INEC to familiarise staff from each registered political party’s Information Technology (IT) department on how to upload details of parties’ agents into the INEC portal, during which they were also issued access code to access INEC’s portal to upload agents’s information in respect of the Ondo governorship election.
In a supporting affidavit, Abure had stated that following the death of the National Chairman of the LP, he was lawfully elected as the Acting National Chairman of the party at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party held in Benin City, Edo State, on March 29, 2021.
He averred that in line with the consensus that was reached at the party’s NEC meeting held on April 18, 2023, in Asaba, Delta State and duly monitored by INEC, the LP subsequently held its national convention on March 27, 2024, at Nnewi, Anambra State, where he was elected to the office of national chairman of the party.
He said the party under his leadership produced candidates for governorship elections in both Edo and Ondo states in the names of Olumide Akpata and Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus.
Abure added that since his election at the Nnewi convention, INEC had related to him as the Chairman of the LP, among which an invitation was sent to him on June 28, 2024, along with 18 other National Chairmen of political parties, for the inspection of sensitive election materials for the Ondo and Edo states governorship polls.
