The dust is yet to settle on the August 16, 2025 Ganye State Constituency bye-election, as the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Benjamin Brandford, have taken the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Adamawa State Election Petitions Tribunal, accusing the commission of brazen illegality and electoral sabotage.
In a petition that has set tongues wagging across Adamawa politics, the LP is asking the tribunal to nullify the declaration of Misa Musa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner and to void the Certificate of Return issued to him.
According to Brandford, INEC’s decision to exclude him and his party from the list of recognised candidates was “clearly unjustifiable, unlawful, and against the very spirit of the Electoral Act.”
The LP insists there were no parallel primaries, no factional sales of forms, and no duplication of processes. Instead, the party leadership duly notified INEC at both national and state levels of its primaries. INEC acknowledged receipt of the letters, deployed staff to monitor the congress, and even had security agencies present to witness the exercise.
“Having monitored and supervised our primaries, INEC cannot now turn around to erase our existence from the ballot,” the petition thundered.
Legal Precedent: Supreme Court Speaks
The petition anchors its arguments on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Jegede vs INEC (2020) 12 NWLR (Pt.737) 81, where the apex court scolded INEC for meddling in party primaries:
> “INEC has no power to reject or substitute a candidate duly nominated through a valid primary election monitored by it. The Court emphasized that INEC’s role is to ensure compliance with the Electoral Act and party guidelines—not to interfere in the nomination process.”
This precedent, the LP argues, strips INEC of any legal cover for excluding Brandford from the ballot.
The petition further leans on Section 29 of the Electoral Act 2022 (formerly Section 31), which requires political parties to submit lists of candidates to INEC within stipulated deadlines. Once submitted, only a competent court of law—not INEC—can disqualify a candidate.
By refusing to upload Brandford’s details despite monitoring his primaries and despite a subsisting court order recognising the Julius Abure-led Labour Party leadership, INEC is accused of acting ultra vires, usurping judicial authority, and violating both statutory and constitutional provisions.
Reliefs Sought
The LP is urging the tribunal to:
Nullify the declaration of APC’s Misa Musa as winner.
Set aside the Certificate of Return already issued.
Cancel the Ganye bye-election entirely.
Order INEC to conduct a fresh poll, this time including Benjamin Brandford as LP’s duly nominated candidate.
For observers, this petition is more than a constituency squabble. It raises existential questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s elections, the independence of INEC, and the sanctity of party primaries.
“INEC cannot be an umpire and a player at the same time,” Brandford warned in his deposition. “Our democracy dies the day a referee begins to decide which team should play.”
The tribunal in Yola will now decide whether INEC’s controversial omission was a mere oversight—or a deliberate attempt to silence the Labour Party in Adamawa. Whatever the outcome, the case promises to be a landmark in Nigeria’s turbulent electoral jurisprudence.
PIONEER NEWS 