Dozens of candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be disqualified from the forthcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections due to unresolved leadership disputes, while the Labour Party (LP) has been completely excluded from the race by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC’s final list of candidates, released on September 22, 2025, shows that the LP has no cleared candidates for the elections scheduled for February 21, 2026. Of the 16 registered political parties, LP is the only one without representation.
The FCT elections will cover 68 elective positions, including six chairmanship seats and 62 councillorship posts across Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Abaji, and Kwali.
Although the PDP submitted 74 candidates—12 for chairmanship and vice-chairmanship positions and 62 for councillorship seats—the validity of these nominations is under threat. The party is currently embroiled in a leadership tussle between two rival factions: one led by former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, elected at a disputed national convention in Ibadan in November, and another led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, reportedly backed by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
Both factions have issued counter-suspensions and initiated multiple court cases over control of the party. Legal analysts warn that if the courts rule that the faction which conducted the PDP primaries lacked legitimacy, all nominations arising from those primaries could be invalidated.
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The LP’s exclusion is linked to its prolonged leadership crisis between the Julius Abure-led faction and the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee, which has the backing of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor Alex Otti. INEC has declined to recognise the Nnewi convention that re-elected Abure, arguing that his tenure had expired. Despite a court order directing INEC to grant the party access to upload candidates, the commission has maintained that it only engages with party leaders recognised by law.
If the PDP’s nominations are nullified, all 74 of its candidates—including chairmanship aspirants across the six area councils and 62 councillorship contenders—would be affected. A similar scenario played out during the 2019 general elections, when the Supreme Court voided the APC’s votes in Zamfara State and the PDP’s in Rivers State due to flawed nomination processes.
Reacting to the situation, Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group, Auwal Rafsanjani, cautioned that the exclusion of opposition parties could undermine voter participation and electoral competitiveness.
He warned that unresolved internal crises could leave the ruling party as the only viable option, weakening democratic choice and discouraging voter turnout.