The Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the decision excluding Labour Party (LP) candidates from the forthcoming Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgement on Wednesday, refusing to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept or publish the list of LP candidates for the February 21 election.

In the suit filed by the Labour Party and its candidates, the party argued that INEC unlawfully left out its nominees when it released the final list of candidates in September 2025. LP also complained that its party logo was missing from the list of political parties cleared to participate in the FCT council polls. The party said it wrote several letters to INEC to protest the exclusion but received no response.

LP told the court that without judicial intervention, it would be unfairly denied the opportunity to contest the local government elections in the FCT. It maintained that its candidates were properly nominated and met all legal requirements before submitting their names to INEC within the stipulated timeframe.

However, Justice Lifu ruled that the case was a pre-election matter under the 1999 Constitution. He noted that although the suit was filed on October 7, 2025, the actual cause of action arose on October 22, 2025. The judge held that the case was not filed within the 14-day limit required by law, making it incompetent. He therefore dismissed the suit and upheld INEC’s position.