Nollywood actor, Olumide Oworu, released an official statement addressing the controversy surrounding his participation in the Lagos State House of Assembly election for the Surulere Constituency seat on March 18, 2023. Despite running as a Labour Party candidate, Olumide's name did not appear on the ballot papers, resulting in his loss to his colleague in the entertainment industry, Desmond Elliot of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received the highest votes.
[/p]In his statement, Olumide denied chasing clout and instead blamed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to obey a court order issued on February 2, 2023. The order directed INEC to open its website for Labour Party to submit the names of its candidates or accept manual submission. Olumide stated that INEC failed to upload the names on the list sent by the Labour Party in October 2022, leading to his name being omitted from the ballot.
Olumide's full statement reads:
"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."
Olumide is a well-known actor in the Nigerian film industry, popularly referred to as Nollywood. He is also actively involved in politics and had been campaigning for the Surulere Constituency seat for several months before the election. Despite the setback, Olumide's statement suggests that he remains committed to his political aspirations and desire for change in his community.
