Accept and publish the candidates of the Ogun State Labour Party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been ordered by an Abeokuta Federal High Court to recognize all National Assembly candidates of the Labour Party (LP) for the general elections in Ogun State in 2023.
When INEC issued its final list of candidates, NAIJALOADED had previously revealed that the names of all candidates for the LP in Ogun were missing.
After the omission, the party sued the commission, claiming that because INEC conducted primary elections in accordance with the Electoral Act, the omission was the result of administrative error on INEC’s part.
The party argued that it had legitimate primary elections and that it submitted the names of the winners within the 90-day window allowed by the Electoral Act.
The INEC was the lone respondent in the lawsuit with the case number FHC/AB/CS/243/2022 between the Labour Party, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, and eight other parties.
In order to force INEC to “accept, acknowledge, and publish the names of candidates supplied by the party,” the party had asked the court to issue an injunction.
Justice Akintayo Aluko issued his ruling on Thursday, ordering the electoral umpire to accept and post the names of the party’s 26 State House of Assembly candidates, nine House of Representatives candidates, and three senatorial candidates on its website right away.
Monday Mawah, LP’s lawyer, responded by saying,
“With this ruling, our candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives, and all 26 State House of Assembly seats are now free to run in the election.
“Today, the court responded to a query from the Labour Party by ruling that there is still time for primaries to be held. The court then issued an order directing INEC to accept the list of candidates from the Federal to the State level and publish it right away so that they can run in the upcoming election alongside other candidates and the Labour Party.
“The gubernatorial hopeful is not involved in the lawsuit. The three senatorial candidates, as well as those for the state’s house of representatives and national parliament, are the candidates for whom we received judgment in this case.
His (the gubernatorial candidate’s) case is still pending in court, and because he is representing himself, it is not one of those that we handled on the party’s behalf.
