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From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The Labour Party has dismissed claims linking the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recent statement on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections to the party’s leadership.
The Barrister Julius Abure-led party on Saturday insisted that the commission’s position has “nothing whatsoever to do with who leads the Labour Party.”
In a strongly worded statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, the party accused a suspended member and former senator, Darlington Nwokocha, of “impersonation” and “misinforming Nigerians” after he allegedly claimed to be speaking for an “illegal and non-existing Caretaker Committee” of the party.
“The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to a statement issued by a suspended member of the party and a one-time senator, Darlington Nwokocha, where he purportedly claimed to represent an illegal and non-existing Caretaker Committee of our party,” Obiora said.
Reacting to INEC’s clarification titled “RE: Claims on Access Code for Labour Party Candidates in the 2026 FCT Area Council Election,” the party stressed that the electoral body merely explained why it withheld access codes due to pending court cases arising from the FCT Area Council election.
“It is true that INEC detailed the judicial progression leading to its decision to withhold access code from the Labour Party.
“However, the statement has nothing to do with the leadership of the Labour Party,” he clarified.
According to Obiora, INEC’s position was strictly procedural.
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“The INEC statement simply stated that due to the inconclusive legal actions arising from the FCT Area Council election, it would be proper to wait until the cases are dispensed with,” he said.
The Labour Party accused Nwokocha of deliberately twisting INEC’s message.
“But Mr. Nwokocha, in his infantile, hysterical and uncontrolled emotion, misinterpreted the INEC statement to suit his intents.
“There is no vacancy in the National Secretariat of the Labour Party,” he reiterated.
The party further claimed that INEC, under its current leadership, has normalised relations with the Julius Abure-led executive.
“It is germane to impress here that the new leadership of INEC under Prof. Joash Amupitan has since regularised its relationship with the Barrister Julius Abure leadership of the Labour Party,” he stated.
He said INEC has demonstrated this recognition by inviting the party leadership to statutory engagements.
“Under the new leadership of the commission, INEC has remedied past errors by inviting the Julius Abure leadership of the Labour Party to its quarterly consultative meeting with political parties,” the party said.
