•Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again declared Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus as the legitimate candidate of the Labour Party for the Saturday governorship election in Ondo.
Move by Olusola Ebiseni to present himself as the authentic candidate suffered setback as the Court of Appeal asked INEC to remove his name.
In a unanimous judgment read by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, the appellate court held that LP’s appeal against Ebiseni was allowed.
INEC in a post on its X handle ( formerly Twitter) noted that its decision to remove Ebiseni and restore Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus was in deference to judgment of the appellate court.
“The Commission was yesterday 14th November 2024 served with the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement of the Court of Appeal which set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja Division. The FHC, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1105/2024 had on 27th September 2024 ordered the Commission to accept Olusola Ebiseni as the candidate of the Labour Party for the 2024 Ondo State Governorship election. “However, in the appeal with reference number CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 filed by the Labour Party, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division struck out the judgement of the FHC for lack of jurisdiction. 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 same to our website for public information.”
