Follow Us on Google
The Julius Abure-led Labour Party has commended the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for successfully uploading its candidates’ data to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, but accused the electoral body of applying double standards in its compliance with court orders.
The faction alleged that while INEC relied on a pending notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution to allow the NDC access to the portal, it failed to apply the same legal principle in the case involving the Labour Party.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, he warned that Nigeria’s democracy would be endangered if INEC continued what it described as “selective obedience” to judicial decisions.
Ifoh said, “The position of the law is that once there is a motion for stay and a notice of appeal, all parties are expected to wait until the motion for stay is determined before any other actions are taken.
“But in the case of the Labour Party, INEC refused to observe that judicial principle and was in a hurry to obey that order.”
He said that although it was commendable that INEC observed the judicial principle in the NDC matter, it was unfortunate that the commission allegedly ignored the same standard in dealing with the Labour Party.
“Why is INEC not following the rule of law? Why is the commission embarking on selective obedience to court judgment? It chooses orders to obey and the ones not to obey.
“The rule of law indicates that all judicial proceedings must be respected and that all court orders must be given equal treatment,” he said.
The spokesperson maintained that the party was not opposed to INEC’s action regarding the NDC but was demanding equal treatment under the law.
“We are saying this not because we are against the treatment INEC meted out to NDC or any other person for that, but against the background of our own circumstances.
“When the Federal High Court judgment that brought in Nenadi was given on January 21, 2026, we immediately filed a notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution, but on January 29, INEC quickly obeyed the court order in spite of the notice of appeal and motion for stay.”
He further alleged that “INEC removed our name from the portal when the motion for stay and notice of appeal were all pending. That on its own was illegal.”
Questioning the commission’s approach, Ifoh added:
“Why we are bringing it to the public is because in the case of NDC, INEC gave its reason that, because of the motion for stay and a notice of appeal, it was compelled to upload the NDC.
Other News
“Why did the commission not apply the same principle to the Labour Party?”
The faction also referred to another legal dispute involving the electoral body.
“Secondly, if you recall, there was a Federal High Court order directing INEC that it should comply with the amended Electoral Act, that its timetable was not in consonance with the Electoral Act.
“INEC filed a notice of appeal and it refused to obey that order on the ground that the commission was on appeal,” he said.
Ifoh also accused the commission of targeting the Labour Party over its leadership crisis.
“All of these put together, do we now say that INEC is unjustly targeting the Labour Party, given the background that it was this same INEC that falsely orchestrated the crisis in the Labour Party when it alleged that the tenure of our executive had expired?” he queried.
According to him, “INEC was given the notice of the convention, and a report was submitted to the commission after the convention as required by law, and the Certified True Copy was issued to the party.
“But in spite of all these, the commission still came up to say that the tenure had expired.”
He alleged that “INEC deliberately waited till June when the tenure was deemed to have expired before it raised the issue.”
The Labour Party urged Nigerians to pay attention to what it described as the unequal application of the law.
“We are raising this question because when it happened to the Labour Party, people were quiet, thinking that it would not get to them, but an injury to one should be an injury to all.
“It must be noted that what they allow to stand today will definitely haunt others tomorrow,” Ifoh stated.
