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By John Ogunsemore
The reinstated gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo State, Ayodele Olorunfemi, has blamed the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for his loss in the just-concluded election in the state.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the election winner with 366,781 votes.
The electoral umpire said the LP candidate, Olorunfemi secured 1,162 votes.
On November 14, INEC said it had restored Olorunfemi as LP candidate following a Court of Appeal ruling which overturned an earlier judgment by the Federal High Court ordering the electoral umpire to recognise Obi’s preferred candidate, Olusola Ebiseni.
Reacting to his loss in the November 16 election, the LP candidate accused Obi and NLC of scuttling his governorship ambition.
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“I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They have scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election.
“These people spoilt things for us with that PDP reject they wanted to force on the party. Their insistence on having Ebiseni on the ballot ruined everything for me.
“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“Can you imagine that Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, saying I have withdrawn from the race?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,” Olorunfemi said.
Olorunfemi admitted that he knew his chances of winning the election were slim after his reinstatement by the appellate court, noting that he is determined to get his “pound of flesh”.
“In fact, I am planning to petition the Inspector General of Police to probe how they wrote that letter, put my signature and presented it before the court,” he said.
