The Labour Party (LP) has condemned Saturday’s bye-elections, describing them as “a mockery of democracy, a travesty of justice against Nigerians, and a dangerous dress rehearsal for 2027.”

In a statement issued Sunday by Ken Asogwa, Senior Special Adviser on Media to Interim National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, the party accused the All Progressives Congress (APC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and security agencies of orchestrating widespread vote-buying, rigging, and violence.

According to the LP, the elections exposed the ruling party’s desperation and INEC’s continuing failure under Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

“From Kaduna to Anambra, Ogun to Oyo, and Kano, the story was the same: brazen vote-buying, rigging, and violence,” the statement read. “APC, often in collusion with security operatives, stood at the centre of these shameful acts that desecrated our electoral space.”

The party argued that INEC’s inability to credibly manage smaller off-season elections raises fears about the credibility of the 2027 general polls.

“If INEC cannot conduct minor elections with integrity, one shudders at the thought of 2027,” it warned. “Two years after the brazen heist that robbed Nigerians of their mandate in 2023, we had hoped Mahmood Yakubu would attempt redemption. Yesterday proved that the expectation was misplaced.”

The LP also challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rein in political actors in his camp, warning that his legacy was at stake.

“History will be most unkind to President Tinubu if he permits the hawks around him to further desecrate our democracy in the narrow pursuit of clinging to power. Nigerians, already pauperised by ill-conceived policies, continue to reject this administration,” the statement added.

The party urged Nigerians to resist what it described as “the creeping normalisation of electoral brigandage,” insisting that democracy must not be sacrificed on the altar of power politics.