‘He’s not our member’ — LP disowns Olusola Ebiseni as Ondo guber candidate

August 14, 2024 4:06 pm

The Labour Party (LP) has disowned Olusola Ebiseni as its governorship candidate in the November 16 election in Ondo.

Ebiseni was a former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and finished third in the primary with 99 votes.

Agboola Ajayi, the former deputy governor, polled 264 votes and was declared winner of the PDP primary election.

Ebiseni, secretary-general of the Ayo Adebanjo-led faction of Afenifere, subsequently joined the LP on Tuesday and was subsequently unveiled as its flag bearer in Akure, the state capital.

During his unveiling, Ebiseni said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “still permits” the substitution of candidates, referencing Section 33 of the electoral act.

“The closure of the window of opportunity for the substitution of candidates according to section 33 of the Electoral Act, which is 90 days before the actual election, would end on August 16,” Ebiseni said.

But in a statement on Wednesday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the party, said Ebiseeni is yet to relinquish his membership of the PDP.

Ifoh reaffirmed Ayodele Olorunfemi as the “authentic” governorship candidate of the party.

He said Olorunfemi’s name had been included in the final list of candidates published by INEC for the governorship election.

“Dr. Olorunfemi is the candidate of the Labour Party. He emerged after the governorship primaries witnessed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). His name was subsequently submitted to INEC and was published as the Labour Party’s duly nominated candidate for the Ondo election,” the statement reads.

“Chief Ebiseni is not our candidate, though he aspired to be one. INEC has since concluded the nomination processes and one wonders how he emerged without the involvement of the INEC and the sponsorship of the Labour Party.

“We also took note of some persons who are not members of the Labour Party but believed to be working for the Nigeria Labour Congress who must have been urging him on in their blind and illegitimate pursuit of the leadership of the party even when the Appeal Court has affirmed Barrister Julius Abure as the authentic chairman of the Labour Party.

“Impersonation is a serious crime in Nigeria and we therefore urge the Nigeria Police, the Department of the State Security and all other security agencies to apprehend anyone impersonating or being used to fight a proxy battle by way of impersonation.

“Labour Party is poised to win the Ondo governorship election having fielded a very credible candidate who is a grassroot politician, a prominent Labour leader and a renowned educationist. We think that this unholy alliance between Ebiseni and APC sponsored NLC is geared towards frustrating our expected victory at the polls but we will resist it through every legal means.

“We are therefore calling on our party members in Ondo, particularly Obidient family and the entire electorate to ignore the gang up against the party and come out en-masse to vote for Dr. Olorunfemi of the Labour Party, secure our votes and make sure our votes count.”