Following the declaration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Ondo Governorship election, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Ayodele Olorunfemi, has attributed his loss to former LP presidential candidate Peter Obi and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
News About Nigeria reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Governor Aiyedatiwa as the winner on Sunday evening after he secured victory in all 18 local government areas in Ondo.
According to the State Returning Officer, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, Aiyedatiwa garnered a total of 366,781 votes, defeating his closest rival, Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 117,845 votes. The Labour Party candidate, Olorunfemi, came a distant third with 1,162 votes.
It is noteworthy that Olorunfemi’s name was restored to the ballot just days before the election following a ruling by the Court of Appeal. The court dismissed an earlier judgment by the Federal High Court, which had directed INEC to recognize Peter Obi’s preferred candidate, Olusola Ebiseni, as the LP candidate for the November 16 election.
Speaking on his defeat, Olorunfemi expressed his grievances, vowing not to forgive Obi and the NLC for their alleged roles in derailing his campaign. He lamented that legal battles surrounding his candidacy left him unable to conduct a proper campaign.
He further alleged that his name and signature were forged by Ebiseni and the NLC in a bid to undermine his candidacy, and he threatened to petition the police to investigate the matter.
“I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election,” Olorunfemi stated. “These people ruined things for us with that PDP reject they wanted to force on the party. Their insistence on having Ebiseni on the ballot destroyed everything. They capitalized on the crisis between the Labour Party and the Nigeria Labour Congress to create problems.”
Olorunfemi also claimed, “Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, saying I had withdrawn from the race. This was an attempt to exclude me, but thank God the appeal judgment restored my name. Withdrawal must be voluntary, not forced. What they did was an attempt to force me out behind my back.”
He accused former NLC President Abduwaheed Omar, who heads the National Transition Committee, of orchestrating the alleged forgery. “What they did is criminal,” Olorunfemi said. “I am planning to petition the Inspector General of Police to probe how they forged my signature and submitted the letter to the court. For now, we are still working behind the scenes and doing our best to address the aftermath of this election.”
Despite the controversies, Governor Aiyedatiwa’s landslide victory solidifies the APC’s dominance in Ondo State, leaving the Labour Party to grapple with internal crises and allegations of misconduct.
