“Selective Obedience” — Abure-Led LP Accuses INEC Of Double Standards Over Portal Access

The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of applying double standards in its response to court orders and pending appeals involving political parties.

The faction made the allegation while reacting to INEC’s decision to allow the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, access to its candidate nomination portal after the party filed a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution over the judgment affecting its registration.

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, the Abure-led faction commended the NDC for successfully uploading its candidates’ data to the INEC portal but faulted the electoral body for allegedly failing to apply the same legal principle in the Labour Party’s own leadership dispute.

Ifoh said the Labour Party was not opposed to INEC’s treatment of the NDC but was concerned that the Commission allegedly refused to adopt the same approach when the Abure-led LP filed a notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution in its case.

According to him, democracy would be endangered if INEC continues what he described as “selective obedience” to judicial decisions.

“The position of the law is that once there is a motion for stay and a notice of appeal, all parties are expected to wait until the motion for stay is determined before any other actions are taken,” Ifoh said.

“But in the case of the Labour Party, INEC refused to observe that judicial principle and was in a hurry to obey that order.”

He said it was commendable that INEC observed the legal principle in the NDC matter, but unfortunate that the same standard was allegedly not applied to the Labour Party.

“Why is INEC not following the rule of law? Why is the commission embarking on selective obedience to court judgment? It chooses orders to obey and the ones not to obey,” he said.

“The rule of law indicates that all judicial proceedings must be respected and that all court orders must be given equal treatment.”

The LP spokesperson said the party’s complaint was based on its own experience following the Federal High Court judgment of January 21, 2026, which affected the Abure-led leadership and recognised the Senator Nenadi Usman-led structure.

He said the Abure-led faction immediately filed a notice of appeal and a motion for stay of execution after the judgment.

Ifoh alleged that despite the pending appeal processes, INEC proceeded on January 29 to implement the court order by removing the Abure-led faction’s access from the Commission’s portal.

“When the Federal High Court judgment that brought in Nenadi was given on January 21, 2026, we immediately filed a notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution, but on January 29, INEC quickly obeyed the court order in spite of the notice of appeal and motion for stay,” he said.

He alleged that INEC’s action at the time was unlawful because the motion for stay and notice of appeal were pending.

“INEC removed our name from the portal when the motion for stay and notice of appeal were all pending. That on its own was illegal,” Ifoh said.

The faction said it decided to raise the issue publicly because INEC reportedly relied on the existence of a notice of appeal and stay application to justify its decision to allow the NDC access to the portal.

“Why we are bringing it to the public is because in the case of NDC, INEC gave its reason that because of the motion for stay and a notice of appeal, it was compelled to upload the NDC,” Ifoh said.

“Why did the commission not apply the same principle to the Labour Party?”

The party also referred to another legal dispute involving INEC and the electoral timetable.

Ifoh said a Federal High Court had ordered INEC to comply with the amended Electoral Act on the ground that its timetable was allegedly not in consonance with the law, but the Commission filed an appeal and declined to obey the order on the basis that the matter was on appeal.

He said the Commission appeared to be taking different positions depending on the political party or matter involved.

The Abure-led faction further accused INEC of unfairly targeting the Labour Party over its leadership crisis.

“All of these put together, do we now say that INEC is unjustly targeting the Labour Party, given the background that it was this same INEC that falsely orchestrated the crisis in the Labour Party when it alleged that the tenure of our executive had expired?” Ifoh queried.

According to him, INEC was given notice of the Labour Party’s convention and a report was submitted to the Commission after the convention as required by law.