Few hours to Ondo gov. poll: INEC replaces Ebiseni for Festus as LP’s candidate

Bowing to the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday replaced Olusola Ebiseni with Olorunfemi Festus as the Labour Party (LP) candidate for the ongoing Ondo governorship election.

The commission, in an update on its X social media platform on Friday, said the replacement of Ebiseni with Festus was less than 24 hours before the election.

The appellate court ordered INEC to restore Festus as LP candidate in the Saturday election.

The Commission said it was served with the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment of the Court of Appeal on Thursday, Nov. 14, which set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja Division.

“The FHC, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1105/2024, had on Sept. 27 ordered the Commission to accept Ebiseni as the candidate of the LP for the 2024 Ondo State Governorship election.

“However, in the appeal with reference number CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 filed by the LP, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division struck out the judgment of the FHC for lack of jurisdiction.

“In obedience to the court order, the commission has restored Festus, whose name was first published as the LP candidate for the 2024 Ondo Governorship election, and uploaded the same to our website for public information,” INEC stated.