Labour Party rules Out 2027 election boycott, says focus is fixing 2023 weaknesses

The Labour Party has dismissed reports suggesting it might boycott the 2027 general election, stating that its priority is to address the weaknesses that affected its performance during the 2023 polls.

The party’s Interim National Chairman, Nenadi Usman, clarified the party’s position while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the unveiling of the party’s e-registration portal in Abuja.

Her remarks come amid rising tension in Nigeria’s political space following threats by the Inter-Party Advisory Council to mobilise political parties to boycott the 2027 elections if certain provisions in the recently enacted Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) are not reviewed.

Responding to questions on whether the Labour Party would align with the proposed boycott, Usman said the party would not adopt what she described as a “bandwagon” approach, noting that political parties face different challenges.

“Every political party has its peculiarities. What bothers another political party may not be what is bothering the Labour Party at the moment,” she said.

She added that issues such as the transmission of election results through the INEC Results Viewing Portal (iREV) are not the party’s primary concern at this time.

According to her, the Labour Party’s biggest challenge during the 2023 elections was the inability to deploy agents to all polling units across the country. This, she explained, significantly weakened the party’s monitoring capacity during the polls.

Reflecting on the 2023 presidential election, Usman said the absence of agents at several polling units made it difficult for the party to present documentary evidence in court, as many representatives were not available to sign and collect the crucial Form EC8A needed to substantiate its claims.