Connect with us

Politics

Court orders INEC to accept LP candidates in 24 states

Published

on

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 Kaduna, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Gombe, Borno, Osun, Katsina Adamawa and Cross River, among others.

The LP in November last year substituted its candidates who had withdrawn from the elections in some states.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.

READ ALSO: We have buried electoral malpractices —INEC

The Commission, however, told the court that it efused to accept 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.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now