PDP CANDIDATES FACE DISQUALIFICATION IN FCT AREA COUNCIL ELECTIONS AMID LEADERSHIP CRISIS
Seventy-four Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in the upcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections may face disqualification due to unresolved leadership disputes within the party.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party (LP) has been completely shut out of the polls, presenting no candidates on the final list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on September 22, 2025.
With the elections slated for February 21, 2026, INEC records show that out of the 16 registered political parties, the LP is currently the only party without a cleared candidate for the exercise. The FCT has 68 elective positions, including six chairmanship seats and 62 councillorship positions across Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Abaji, and Kwali.
Although the PDP submitted a full slate of 74 candidates—12 for chairmanship and vice-chairmanship positions and 62 for councillorships—the validity of these nominations is now under legal scrutiny.
The LP’s exclusion is linked to a long-standing leadership feud between the Julius Abure-led faction and the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee, backed by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti. INEC has refused to recognise the Nnewi convention that re-elected Abure, maintaining that his tenure had expired.
Even after a court order directed INEC to provide access codes for candidate registration, the commission has insisted on dealing only with legally recognised leaders, leaving the LP without representation in the FCT polls.
Within the PDP, a leadership tussle has emerged between Tanimu Turaki’s faction—elected at the controversial national convention in Ibadan on November 15–16—and Abdulrahman Mohammed’s faction, supported by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. Both sides have issued suspensions and filed lawsuits over control of the party.
Legal experts warn that if courts later declare the leadership that conducted the PDP primaries illegitimate, all nominations under that structure could be invalidated. A similar situation occurred in the 2019 general elections, when the Supreme Court nullified APC votes in Zamfara and PDP votes in Rivers over primary irregularities.
In the FCT, such a ruling could nullify all 74 PDP candidates, including chairmanship aspirants in AMAC, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Bwari, and Kwali, as well as the 62 councillorship contenders.
Auwal Rafsanjani, Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group, warned that internal party crises could disenfranchise voters and create a lopsided election.
“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. Politicians must resolve internal disputes, or it will give the ruling party an opportunity to dominate and exclude the opposition,” he said.
