The Labour Party (LP) candidate in Saturday’s Ondo governorship election has accused the Presidential Candidate in the 2023 poll, Peter Obi, and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) of costing him victory.
Ayodele Olorunfemi was initially substituted by the electoral umpire with Olusola Ebiseni as the LP candidate following a Federal High Court ruling.
However, the appellate court later struck out the judgement for lack of jurisdiction, upon which INEC restored Olorunfemi as the official candidate just days before the election.
In results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olorunfemi garnered 1,162 votes, finishing 12th among the the 17-candidate race.
INEC declared Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, with 366,781 votes across all 18 local government areas, with Agboola Ajayi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as second with 117,845 votes.
Peter Obi, LP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, had endorsed Ebiseni during the campaign, calling him a candidate committed to fairness, equity, and justice.
Olorunfemi described his campaign as disorganized and ineffective, placing the blame on Obi and the NLC for undermining his candidacy.
“My campaign for the election was neither here nor there. I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election,” Olorunfemi said. “They just capitalised on the crisis between the Labour Party and the Nigeria Labour Congress to create problems.
“Can you imagine that Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, saying I have withdrawn from the race? They cannot exclude me from such a position.”
