Olumide insisted his participation in the election exercise was not for clout.
Actor Olumide Oworu has reacted after it was revealed that his name was excluded by the Independent National Electoral Commission in last Saturday's House of Assembly election in Lagos state.
Recall that he was reported to have contested against for the Surulere Constituency of the Lagos state House of Assembly, which was won by actor, Desmond Elliott.
In a statement released, Olumide insisted his participation in the election exercise was not for clout. With regards to his name not being on the ballot paper on the day of the election, Olumide stated that INEC failed to obey a court order issued on February 2, directing the commission to open its website for Labour party to submit the names of its candidates or accept the manual submission. He added that INEC failed to upload the names on the list sent by the Labour Party in October 2022.
He wrote:
‘’Regarding the authenticity of my candidacy and my name not appearing on the ballot, that is a situation that came about due to the failure of the INEC to comply with the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on the 2nd of February 2023 in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/2115/2022 wherein INEC was ordered to open her website to allow the labour party to submit the list of her candidates or accept the same manually immediately. INEC failed to upload the names on the list sent by the Labour Party in October 2022. I assure you that this endeavour was not one for clout but was borne out of a genuine desire for change.''
Read the full text of his statement below: