How Peter Obi and the NLC Cost Me the Ondo Election – Ayodele Olorunfemi
Ayodele Olorunfemi, the reinstated Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Ondo State, has expressed frustration over his failure to win Saturday’s governorship election, accusing former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) of sabotaging his campaign.
Olorunfemi’s defeat came after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All-Progressives Congress (APC) the winner, with Aiyedatiwa securing a sweeping victory across all 18 local government areas. The APC candidate won a total of 366,781 votes, comfortably defeating Agboola Ajayi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 117,845 votes. While ZLP’s Dr. Abbas Mimiko came a distant third with 2,692 votes, Olorunfemi finished fourth with only 1162 votes.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Olorunfemi, who had only been reinstated as LP’s candidate on Friday, November 15, following a Court of Appeal ruling, vented his frustration over Obi and the NLC’s role in derailing his campaign. He blamed their involvement in pushing forward Olusola Ebiseni—whom Olorunfemi contended was a “PDP reject”—as the party’s candidate.
“I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They have scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election,” said Olorunfemi.
“Their insistence on having Ebiseni on the ballot ruined everything for me. They capitalized on the crisis between the Labour Party and the NLC to create problems. Can you imagine that Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, claiming I had withdrawn from the race? They cannot exclude me from such a position.”
Also Read: Ondo Election: PDP’s Agboola Ajayi Slams INEC Over Slow Process and Vote-Buying Allegations
Olorunfemi’s campaign was plagued by months of internal strife within the LP, which culminated in a dramatic legal battle over who would represent the party in the election. After the Federal High Court had initially recognized Ebiseni as the candidate, Olorunfemi won an appeal, which returned him to the ballot just days before the election. Despite this legal victory, he admitted that his campaign had been severely hampered by the delays.
“Unfortunately, my campaign was neither here nor there,” he admitted. “It was too late to have a meaningful door-to-door effort after the appeal judgment. And now, I know my chances were slim.”
Olorunfemi suggested that he would pursue legal action against those he blamed for the chaos. Specifically, he vowed to petition the police to investigate how his name and signature were allegedly forged by Ebiseni and the NLC. He described the actions of the NLC and Obi’s camp as “criminal,” and he said he would bring the matter to the attention of the Inspector General of Police.
“Thank God we got the appeal judgment, and my name is back in the INEC portal,” Olorunfemi said.
“The good thing is that the truth has prevailed. Withdrawal must be voluntary, and you cannot force someone to withdraw. What they did was an attempt to force me behind my back.”
As tensions simmered between the factions within the Labour Party, the NLC responded to Olorunfemi’s allegations. Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, acting Chairman of the NLC Political Commission, dismissed Olorunfemi’s claims, calling him a “very funny character.” Ndubuaku accused Olorunfemi of being involved in a scheme to sell the LP ticket to Ebiseni for a substantial fee, further fueling the internal party tensions.
“He was a placeholder before the election,” Ndubuaku said. “Olorunfemi started shopping for who would buy the ticket from him. When Ebiseni paid the required N20 million, he went to court after the ticket wasn’t handed over. The situation is what it is—he was never serious about the election.”
