Labour party, CSOs protest at INEC HQ over candidate exclusion

Candidates of the Julius Abure-led Labour Party (LP), alongside civil society organisations (CSOs), on Wednesday staged a protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, demanding recognition ahead of the August 16 bye-elections.

The peaceful protest, which began around 11 am despite the early morning rain, was aimed at pressuring INEC to comply with a court order affirming Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman and to upload LP’s nominated candidates for the upcoming polls.

The demonstrators, who arrived in buses, carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘INEC, who is using you against LP’, ‘Mahmood, stop destroying democracy in Nigeria’, and ‘Tell INEC to obey court orders’.

Barry Avotu-Johnson, deputy national youth leader of the party, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said the commission must honour the judgment and ensure the party’s candidates are allowed to participate.

“We are here to demand that the National Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, should respect the court order recognising Barr Julius Abure as national chairman of our great party,” he said.

“We are also demanding that he uploads the names of our validly nominated candidates for the forthcoming bye-elections.

“This is not asking for too much. Justice and the respect for rule of law, which is the hallmark of democracy all over the world, Nigeria shouldn’t be an exception.”

Peter Ugwu, a party chieftain in the federal capital territory (FCT), said LP followed due process in its primary elections and expects the commission to act in accordance.

“We are here to demand for our right,” he said.

“We in the FCT conducted primaries and elected candidates for this election. Sadly, while the names of candidates of other political parties have been uploaded on the INEC portal, ours have not. INEC should correct this anomaly by doing the needful.”

Peter Piper, spokesperson for the CSOs, said the protest was a broader call to defend democratic principles.

“This is about democracy and the rule of law. An injury to one is an injury to all,” he said.

Responding to the demonstrators, Abdulahi Zuru, a national commissioner who represented INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, promised that their concerns would be forwarded to the commission’s leadership.

“I assure you that your message will be communicated to the chairman and other members of the commission,” Zuru said, urging the group to remain calm.