Former National Treasurer of the Labour Party, Oluchi Oparah, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for disqualifying candidates submitted by the Julius Abure-led faction from participating in the August 16 bye-elections, saying the commission has “restored sanity and respect for the rule of law.”
INEC, in its final list of nominated candidates for the forthcoming bye-elections, excluded all names submitted by the Abure-led group. The commission cited the Supreme Court judgment of April 4, 2025, which affirmed that Abure ceased to be National Chairman as of June 8, 2023, and declared that INEC did not monitor the faction’s primaries—making them invalid under the Electoral Act.
Oparah, who played a key role in exposing alleged financial mismanagement under Abure, described the INEC decision as “a major victory for constitutional order and internal party democracy.”
“INEC has finally done the right thing. Abure’s leadership expired last year. Any action taken by him since then—including organising primaries—is null and void. This is what the Supreme Court reinforced, and INEC is simply enforcing the law,” she said in a statement.
She further called on Nigerians and party supporters to “ignore any misleading narrative” that suggests the Labour Party is being sidelined, arguing instead that “it is the illegal faction that is being rightfully shut out.”
In a swift response, the Abure-led faction of the Labour Party condemned INEC’s decision as an unlawful intrusion into the party’s internal affairs.
Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the faction, stated that INEC lacks the constitutional power to interpret the Supreme Court ruling or determine the legitimacy of party leadership.
“INEC is not a court of law. Its job is to conduct elections, not to act as a judge over political parties’ internal matters. The Supreme Court never ruled against Abure’s authority to lead the party,” Ifoh said in a statement.
He insisted that the Labour Party remains a validly registered party with full rights to sponsor candidates and threatened legal action against INEC for the disqualification.
“INEC’s action is provocative and unacceptable. It will be challenged. No election should go on without Labour Party on the ballot,” he added.
Though the commission has not issued a detailed public statement, sources within INEC affirmed that the decision was guided strictly by the Supreme Court ruling and statutory requirements, particularly the commission’s obligation to monitor party primaries before accepting nominated candidates.
“No primaries were monitored under Mr. Abure. His tenure ended in June 2023. That’s the position of the law, and INEC cannot overlook that,” a senior commission official said.
As the political drama unfolds, it is now clear that the Labour Party faces an internal reckoning, with one faction applauding legal order and another resisting what it sees as political exclusion.
