Politics
LP Petitions SGF Over Alleged Office Vandalism By NLC
The Labour Party (LP) has petitioned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) over last week Wednesday’s vandalism of its offices by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
National publicity secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, said this in the petition, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Friday in Abuja.
“It has become unavoidably necessary to request for your urgent intervention, being the regulatory agency for trade unions including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has over the years engaged in a war of attrition with our party.
“It came to a head and unbearable when the NLC, under the leadership of Comrade Joe Ajeoro directed the picketing of our party’s National Headquarters and our chapter offices across the country.
“The unwarranted attack on our office resulted in the destruction of several properties,” Mr Ifoh said.
He added: “The NLC claims to be owners of the party and therefore wants to impose the leadership of the party, exerts overwhelming control to achieve a political end.
“It should be noted that Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) prohibits any association from contributing to the funds of any political party.
“It is a criminal offence under section 15 of the Trade Union Act to use Trade Unions Funds whether directly or indirectly to fund a political party.
“Similarly, the NLC has no right to picket an organisation where there is no trade dispute, The LP has no staff who are members of the NLC. The actions of the NLC is a clear violation of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act, the Trade Union Act and other relevant laws.
“It is of importance to further draw your attention to the fact that it is only members who are financially up to date with the party, who have rights and obligations to the party (See Article 9(3)(i) and (iii) of our constitution).
“NLC members are not card-carrying members of LP. The party cannot be owned by any association, membership of the party is on an individual basis.
“The LP Constitution says the party is open to all Nigerians who accept its ideology, programmes and the constitution, irrespective of their religion, ethnic, gender, social and economic status.
“However, the organs of the party as decided by the members assume leadership of the party. How this is achieved is well spelt out in the constitution.
“As lawful citizens we didn’t want to confront them in an uncivilised manner in order to avoid breakdown of law and order. We had the option of also mobilising party faithfuls to confront them.
“Doing that at this point where the harsh economic climate is having its toll on the Nigerian people will result in anarchy.
“Hence, the urgent need to call the NLC and its leadership led by Ajaero to order, educate them on the limit of their power, condemn their rascality, abuse of office and discipline them as appropriate”.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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