2027: LP aspirant threatens legal action over alleged ticket racketeering

By John Alechenu

ABUJA — A Labour Party (LP) aspirant for the Oju/Obi Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives, Hon. Jonah Ihie, has threatened to sue the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the alleged wrongful emergence of another candidate.

The development comes as political parties begin uploading the names of their candidates to the INEC portal ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Ihie challenged the emergence of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Minority Leader in the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Blessed Onah, as the Labour Party’s candidate for the constituency.

He also claimed that the Labour Party chairmen in Oju and Obi Local Government Areas had questioned Onah’s membership of the party.

According to Ihie, the party’s national leadership ignored his complaints over what he described as an attempt to hand the party’s ticket to a recent defector.

“He could not have become our party’s flag bearer barely two weeks after joining the Labour Party. At the time he picked the LP nomination form, he had contested and lost the PDP primary on May 18. He defected to the LP on June 4, bought the nomination form on June 13 and participated in the LP primary on June 30.

“Before his defection, I was the only aspirant from the constituency who purchased the nomination form. It is difficult to understand how someone who recently joined the party emerged as the candidate,” Ihie said.

He further alleged that no valid primary election was conducted in Oju/Obi, claiming there were neither ballot papers nor officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) present on the scheduled date.

Ihie also referred to a petition by his lawyers, Nicholas Oduaran & Co., alleging that Onah was still a member of the PDP when he obtained the Labour Party nomination form.

According to him, the petition argued that Onah had not completed the necessary processes required to become a bona fide member of the Labour Party before participating in its nomination exercise.

Meanwhile, in a statement jointly signed by Amb. Agida Emmanuel, Idoko Peter, Oju LGA Chairman Eliza Echor and Obi LGA Chairman Elijah Ejeh, some Labour Party officials in Benue State alleged that Onah was falsely presenting himself as a member of the party and attempting to organise party activities without authorisation.

The statement maintained that the Labour Party had conducted its congress in December last year and already had recognised ward and local government executives in Oju and Obi.

It warned members of the public against associating with any unauthorised activities carried out in the name of the party.

However, a senior member of the Labour Party dismissed Ihie’s allegations, insisting that the party had established procedures for resolving disputes arising from its primaries.

The party official questioned whether Ihie had exhausted the internal appeal process within the stipulated timeframe and also disputed his account of the party’s primary election timetable.