Fresh trouble has emerged ahead of the 2026 Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections as dozens of candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) risk being disqualified from the race.
At the same time, the Labour Party (LP) has been completely excluded from the polls after failing to appear on the final list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC’s final list, published on September 22, 2025, shows that the Labour Party has no cleared candidate for the election scheduled for February 21, 2026.
Out of the 16 registered political parties in Nigeria, the LP is the only one without a single candidate for the FCT exercise.
The development has thrown the political landscape of the nation’s capital into uncertainty, with fears growing that the contest may be significantly skewed.
The FCT Area Council elections will cover 68 elective positions. These include six chairmanship seats and 62 councillorship positions spread across Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Abaji, and Kwali.
While the PDP submitted a full list of 74 candidates, their participation is now under serious threat due to unresolved leadership disputes within the party.
The list includes candidates for six chairmanship seats, six vice-chairmanship slots, and 62 councillorship positions.
However, ongoing court battles over the party’s national leadership have raised questions about the legality of the primaries that produced the candidates.
Legal practitioners warn that if the courts rule against the faction that conducted the primaries, all the nominations could be invalidated.
Such a judgment would automatically disqualify all 74 PDP candidates from the FCT elections.
The crisis within the PDP is rooted in a power struggle between two rival factions.
One faction is led by former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, who emerged as national chairman at a disputed national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16.
The other faction is led by Abdulrahman Mohammed and is reportedly backed by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
Both camps have announced suspensions against each other and filed multiple lawsuits over control of the party’s structure.
The situation has deepened uncertainty around the PDP’s participation in the FCT polls.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s exclusion stems from its prolonged leadership crisis at the national level.
The party has been locked in a bitter struggle between the Julius Abure-led faction and the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee.
The caretaker committee enjoys the backing of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
INEC has refused to recognise the national convention held in Nnewi where Abure was re-elected, arguing that his tenure had already expired.
Although a court order reportedly directed INEC to issue access codes for the party to upload its candidates, the commission maintained that it only engages with party leadership recognised by law.
As a result, the Labour Party failed to present candidates before the deadline and was shut out of the FCT polls.
Observers warn that the combined effect of the PDP’s legal troubles and the Labour Party’s exclusion could significantly reduce voter choice.
Speaking on the situation, Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group, Auwal Rafsanjani, warned of the possible consequences for the democratic process.
“The risk is that if parties fail to resolve these internal problems, the ruling party will become the only viable option. That weakens choice and discourages voters.
“So, it is important that politicians play by the rules and do everything to resolve their internal crises; otherwise, it would give an opportunity for the ruling party and those who have been recruited to undermine and exclude opposition,” he said.
However, similar crises have had far-reaching consequences in the past.
During the 2019 general elections, the Supreme Court nullified the votes of the APC in Zamfara State and the PDP in Rivers State due to irregularities in their nomination processes.
If a similar ruling occurs in the FCT, all PDP candidates across the six area councils could be wiped out of the race.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.