BYLINE: CHARLES CHIJIOKE
The Labour Party has dismissed reports alleging that it failed to upload the names of its presidential and vice-presidential candidates before the closure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal, insisting that all its candidates were successfully submitted well ahead of the deadline.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the party described the report as “patently false, misleading, and existing only in the imagination of the purveyors of that fake news.” It maintained that the names of its presidential, vice-presidential and National Assembly candidates were duly uploaded in compliance with INEC’s nomination guidelines.
Afrilensnews reports that the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Ken Eluma Asogwa, said the party completed the upload of its presidential and vice-presidential candidates on July 10, 2026, four clear days before the INEC portal closed on July 14, 2026, stressing that the entire nomination process was seamless and fully compliant with the electoral commission’s requirements.
According to the statement, the party expressed concern over what it described as the publication of an unverified report by a media organisation, alleging that the story relied on claims from an anonymous INEC official without seeking clarification from the Labour Party leadership.
“It is, however, disturbing that a media organisation would publish such a weighty and misleading report without making the slightest effort to verify the information with the leadership of the Labour Party, particularly when the story was purportedly sourced from an anonymous INEC official,” the statement read.
The party argued that such reporting raises questions about professional responsibility and whether the publication was driven by political motives rather than the public interest.
The Labour Party further noted that INEC has already released its timetable for publishing the final list of validly nominated candidates for the 2027 General Elections, expressing confidence that the commission’s official publication would confirm the successful nomination of its candidates.
It urged party members, supporters and the general public to disregard what it described as false reports, insisting that the misinformation would soon be exposed by INEC’s official records.
The statement further declared that those unsettled by the Labour Party’s “renewed strength, growing acceptance and increasing momentum” should prepare for the coming elections instead of spreading propaganda.
Describing the report in strong terms, the party said it bore “all the hallmarks of idle beer parlour gossip masquerading as journalism,” adding that the latest attempt to discredit it had “collapsed under the weight of the facts, like a pack of cards.”
