KEY POINTS
- LP Candidate, Olorunfemi, Identities Obi and NLC as culrprit for Loss of Ondo Election.
- Some of the allegations are: forgery of the withdrawal letter and sabotage.
- Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has dismissed allegations, calls Olorunfemi of subverting ticket sales.
Ayodele Olorunfemi, the defeated Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the November 16 Ondo State gubernatorial poll blamed his defeat on the former LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Olorunfemi lost it as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the APC scored 366,781 votes to emerge winner against PDP’s candidate Agboola Ajayi with 117,845 votes.
Allegations of sabotage
Olorunfemi came to the election as LP’s candidate after a Court of Appeal ruling that reinstated him just days before the election accused both Obi and the NLC of wrecking his campaign by supporting Olusola Ebiseni, another LP candidate.
“They frustrated my efforts by wanting to place on the ballot the same Ebiseni who the PDP rejected. They messed everything up for me,” he said in an interview with reporters.
In addition, he also claimed that Ebiseni forged a letter in his name to announce withdrawal from the race and promised to write to the Inspector General of Police demanding investigation on the forged letter.
Ongoing crisis in LP
Furthermore, reacting to the comment, the acting Chairman of the NLC party, Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku described Olorunfemi as a funny character allege that the latter want to sell the ticket to his preferred candidate, Ebiseni for ₦20 million.
“Olorunfemi was a token candidate. The young man began the process of hawking this ticket and it resulted to the court cases that we witnessed, Ndubuaku also added.
The allegations are symptomatic of the fact that resentment between the factions in the Labour Party has not abated due to the conflict between the Abure’s supporters and representatives of the NLC, who back the National Transition Committee.
Legal battles loom
As for the forgery suspicions, Olorunfemi said he would continue with legal proceedings in a bid to ensure the culprits faced the_music_. “What they did is criminal. We shall leave this to other investigations, but with regard to other issues that arise after the election, I am busy with.
Also attempts made to get the reactions of Peter Obi and Olusola Ebiseni of the fortunes of the PDP were unfruitful at this time.
