INEC files counter affidavit, challenges tenure of Abure NWC/NEC

From Idu Jude Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Federal High Court Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by the Labour Party challenging the exclusion of the party from a refresher training organized by the Commission for uploading party agents in the upcoming Edo, Ondo States governorship election.
In a counter affidavit deposed to by Ayuba Mohammed, an Executive Officer in INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department in suit NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024, the electoral body maintained that based on its records, Julius Abure’s tenure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, along with the party’s National Executive Committee, expired in June 2024.
INEC claimed it did not monitor, participate in, or recognize the purported National Convention of the Labour Party held on March 27, 2024, in Anambra State, where Abure claimed to have been re-elected. The Commission argued that the convention was conducted in breach of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s regulations and guidelines for political parties 2022, and the Labour Party constitution 2019.
Citing its regulations, INEC stated that it only deals with valid and subsisting national chairmen and secretaries of political parties in issuing notices and correspondence. As of August 16, 2024, when the refresher training notice was issued, the Commission asserted that the Labour Party had no valid national chairman or secretary, as their tenure had elapsed in June 2024.
In a written address in support of the counter affidavit, INEC’s legal team, led by Tanko Inuwa, SAN, argued that the Labour Party’s suit is seeking declaratory reliefs, which cannot be granted as a matter of course or based on mere admissions. They contended that the Labour Party must succeed on the strength of its case, even in the face of admissions.
The Commission’s lawyers further submitted that having failed to comply with the extant legal frameworks in conducting its national convention; the Labour Party does not have a valid leadership that INEC can engage. They urged the court to dismiss the suit, insisting that the Labour Party is not entitled to the reliefs sought.