• Igbo group urges credible election, improved voter registration
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the exclusion of the Labour Party (LP) from the February 21, 2026, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections to the party’s prolonged leadership crisis and multiple pending court cases.

The commission clarified after a protest by Labour Party supporters at its Abuja headquarters on Monday. The demonstrators had accused INEC of deliberately excluding the party’s candidates, and demanded access codes for uploading their particulars.

They described the exclusion as a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise the party, despite a subsisting court order in its favour. But in a statement yesterday signed by its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, the electoral umpire said the controversy surrounding Labour Party’s participation stemmed from a Supreme Court judgment which nullified the authority of the Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee (NEC).

According to INEC, the apex court, in Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025 (Usman v. Labour Party) delivered on April 4, 2025, held unequivocally that the tenure of the Abure-led leadership had expired.

The electoral body recalled that LP had earlier challenged its exclusion from the August 2025 bye-elections at the Federal High Court, Abuja, but the suit — FHC/ABJ/1523/2025 (Labour Party v. INEC) — was dismissed on August 15, 2025, with the court affirming that Julius Abure was no longer recognised as the party’s national chairman.

IN a related development, the Igbo Community Association (ICA) in the FCT has charged INEC to ensure the conduct of a credible poll. In a statement yesterday by its National President and Secretary-General, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe and Emmanuel Onah, the group urged the INEC National Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to create more awareness and ensure that more qualified persons are registered in the forthcoming exercise.

Recall that the electoral umpire recently announced the reopening of its voter registration exercise. The ICA FCT said Igbo citizens should seize the opportunity to exercise their franchise. It called on all eligible Igbo residents in Abuja to participate in the forthcoming voter registration exercise.