Ondo guber: INEC obeys court order, reinstates Ayodele Olorunfemi as LP candidate

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reinstated Ayodele Olorunfemi as the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate for the Ondo state governorship election.

The federal high court, Abuja had on September 27 directed INEC to recognise Olusola Ebiseni as the LP candidate.

However, the party appealed the ruling, and the appellate court struck out the earlier judgment for lack of jurisdiction.

In a statement on Friday, INEC said it has restored Olorunfemi’s name as the LP candidate in line with the court judgment.

“The commission was yesterday 14th November 2024 served with the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment of the court of appeal which set aside the judgement of the federal high court (FHC), Abuja division,” the statement reads.

“In obedience to the court order, the commission has restored Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus, whose name was first published as the Labour Party candidate for the 2024 Ondo state governorship election, and uploaded the same to our website for public information.”

Meanwhile, earlier today, INEC said it had distributed all sensitive materials to the LGAs in Ondo ahead of the election on Saturday.

“All sensitive materials for the Ondo State Governorship election, scheduled for Saturday 16th November 2024, have been moved from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Akure, to all the state’s 18 local government areas (LGAs) under security escort, accompanied by party agents, observers, and the media,” the commission said.