The Labour Party has urged its members in Ogun State not to be troubled over the omission of the party’s name in the list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently.
The LP asked its members not to feel disenchanted, saying the list is not final, but provisional.
GoldenNewsNg reported earlier that Labour Party was nowhere to be found in the first and second lists released by INEC for Ogun 2023 governorship election.
This has since generated tension among the would-be candidates of the party and members of the party.
But in a release signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, he said that the “LP will contest all the elective positions in the next general elections in Ogun State and Nigeria.”
Arabambi described the omission as an aberration, stating that “it is now being challenged in the court of law.”
He revealed that the party has already begun the “legal fireworks” for the case to make sure that its candidates are on the ballot for the 2023 general elections.
“Contrary to what ICT Abuja INEC claimed that we were late in submitting names of Our candidates through their unconstitutional electronic submission platforms which is not known to the electoral act, we have approached the same court because Labour Party is a law-abiding party. We kept to electoral guidelines, and the constitution also gave us 90 days window to election before the door of substitution could close.
“I must commend the Ogun State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC and the EPM department for a job well-done as they are absolved of any complicity on this issues which solely arise as a result of the electronic transmission method of submission adopted by the ICT department Abuja INEC against Section 29 sub (1)(2)(3)of the electoral act,” Arabambi said.
He explained that, “we submitted all names electronically in lines with INEC guidelines (even though it’s against the electoral act and constitution) before the deadline. We did the needful as laid down by the law, so the omission is unwarranted. We are in court and the matter will be determined by the court this October in Abuja.”
Meanwhile, the LP national spokesman directed all the party’s candidates in Ogun “to roll out their drums and start their campaigns,” assuring that justice would be done on the matter soon.
