The Labour Party (LP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently upload the names of its candidates for the 2026 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections to the official INEC portal.

Chairman of the party in the FCT, Mr. Peter Ugwu, made the appeal during a peaceful protest by LP members at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday. He expressed concern that while candidates from other political parties have already been uploaded to the portal, those of the Labour Party remain absent—despite having successfully conducted party primaries.

“We, in the FCT, conducted our primaries and elected candidates. Sadly, their names have not been uploaded on the INEC portal. This delay is affecting our preparations for the election scheduled for February 26, 2026,” Ugwu said.

He appealed directly to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to ensure the correction is made swiftly so that LP candidates can fully participate in the electoral process.

Also speaking during the protest, Mrs. Success Onyeze, the FCT Women Leader and a chairmanship aspirant for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), described the party’s primaries as transparent and credible. She questioned why LP candidates were not listed on the INEC portal and urged the commission to rectify the issue in the interest of fairness.

Hon. Kingsley Okeke, another aspirant, reaffirmed the legitimacy of Barr. Julius Abure as the Labour Party’s national chairman and stressed that the party’s peaceful approach should not be mistaken for weakness.

“We are simply here to demand our rights. Labour Party is a registered, recognised political platform, and we have every right to be on the ballot. The FCT is LP territory—we only want INEC to do what is right,” he said.

The party further called on INEC to uphold constitutional principles and avoid actions that may disenfranchise legitimate candidates.

In response, INEC’s National Commissioner, Abdulahi Zuru—who represented the chairman—acknowledged the protest and assured the LP members that their concerns would be forwarded to the leadership of the commission for prompt action.