Ondo guber: Court didn’t disqualify our candidate – Labour Party

• According to Justice Nwite, the second primary election that produced Ebiseni and Awude as candidates was duly conducted and should be upheld by INEC

Labour Party has described as false reports that the Appeal Court in Abuja has sacked Olusola Ebiseni, its candidate for the Ondo State gubernatorial election.

Recall that the Abuja Division of the Appellate Court on Wednesday voided the primary that produced Ebiseni as the Labour Party candidate for the upcoming election.

The three-member panel of justices, in a unanimous decision led by Justice Hamma Barka and delivered by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, held that “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”

Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had previously ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates, respectively, for the Saturday election.

According to Justice Nwite, the second primary election that produced Ebiseni and Awude as candidates was duly conducted and should be upheld by INEC.

Justice Nwite ruled that there was evidence Ebiseni paid N20 million for the nomination form and was duly issued a form leading to the conduct of the second primary election.

He also observed that the party directed Ebiseni to pay N5 million to one Festus Olorunfemi as compensation for his withdrawal from the race.

However, the appellate court on Wednesday overturned the trial court’s judgment.

Reacting to the development on Thursday, the Ondo State Chairperson of the Labour Party, Mrs. Remilekun Ojo, said the candidate cannot be disqualified, insisting that the matter was internally resolved before the judgment.

Ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State, Ojo implored Nigerians, particularly the voters, to disregard a court judgment.

She condemned the circulating reports that the party’s candidate was disqualified, stressing that “the reports are all lies.”

She accused politicians from other parties of causing confusion in the Labour Party because “they feel threatened.”