The Labour Party said Saturday’s legislative bye-elections conducted in 16 constituencies across 12 states are a mockery of democracy.

The party, in a statement by Senior Special Assistant (Media) to the interim National Chairman, Ken Asogwa, also described it as “a dangerous dress rehearsal” of what may befall the country in 2027 if swift action is not taken to halt it.

The party alleged that large-scale election rigging, vote-buying, and violence defined the process.

“Independent accounts confirmed that the ruling APC, often in collusion with security agencies, stood at the very centre of these shameful acts that desecrated our electoral space.

“If INEC cannot conduct minor off-season elections with integrity, one shudders at the thought of how it intends to manage the nationwide polls of 2027,” the party wondered.

Labour Party stated that two years after the electoral heist robbed its candidate and the Nigerian people of their mandate, “we had hoped that the passage of time would inspire (Mahmood) Yakubu to at least attempt a semblance of redemption, a pretence at leaving behind a legacy. (Last Saturday’s) outing has proven that such expectations were misplaced.”

The party called on President Bola Tinubu to rise to the occasion and rescue the nation’s democracy from imminent collapse.

“The charade witnessed must not be allowed to define future elections.

“History will be most unkind to President Tinubu if he permits the hawks around him to push him into further desecrating our democracy in the narrow pursuit of retaining power, even in the face of overwhelming rejection by a weary citizenry already pauperised by the ill-conceived policies of his administration,” the Labour Party warned.