A faction of the Labour Party in Lagos State has rejected Rotimi Odunaike as the party’s governorship candidate, insisting that Lanre Adeleke, popularly known as Lanre Legacy, won the primary election conducted in May 2026.
The group, operating under the Lanre Legacy Campaign Council (LLCC), accused Odunaike of taking over the party’s governorship ticket despite allegedly resigning from the party months before his emergence.
In a disclaimer signed by Comrade Adeyinka Gafar Adedeji, the faction maintained that Adeleke was the rightful winner of the May 30 governorship primary.
The disagreement emerged following controversy over Odunaike’s exclusion from a governorship debate organised on November 8 by Channels Television, TVC, Punch and Vanguard.
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The faction’s statement was also a response to Michael Roy Olokungboye, who had criticised the media organisations for allegedly excluding Odunaike from the debate.
However, the campaign council argued that Odunaike was not the candidate produced by the party’s primary election.
It explained that the exercise was held at Right House on May 30, 2026, in accordance with the Electoral Act, the Labour Party constitution and guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to the group, officials of INEC, security agencies and journalists witnessed the exercise, which produced Adeleke as the winner.
The faction further claimed that Olokungboye, who reportedly emerged as the party’s candidate for Agege Constituency II in the House of Assembly election, attended the same primary and knew that Adeleke participated while Odunaike was absent.
The council also questioned Odunaike’s emergence, alleging that he had resigned from his position as chairman of the Lagos State Labour Party Caretaker Committee and withdrawn his membership of the party on December 12, 2025.
A resignation letter attached to the disclaimer showed that Odunaike formally communicated his decision to leave both positions to the party’s National Chairman.
In the letter, he cited persistent internal disagreements and leadership crises at the national and state levels, which he said had made effective leadership and strategic planning difficult.
He also explained that remaining in the position would neither benefit the party nor advance its objectives.
Despite leaving the party, Odunaike reportedly expressed his commitment to supporting the campaign for good governance in other capacities as an Obidient.
The Lanre Legacy Campaign Council alleged that Odunaike’s name was subsequently substituted for Adeleke’s despite the latter’s claimed victory at the primary.
The group disclosed that the disagreement had been taken to the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, where the matter was heard on November 6, 2026.
It claimed that INEC told the court that Adeleke won the primary and was the only person who participated in the exercise.
The faction added that it was awaiting the court’s judgment, which could be delivered soon.
It consequently urged journalists and members of the public to disregard statements presenting Odunaike as the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State.
The dispute comes as political parties prepare for the 2027 general elections, with internal disagreements continuing to emerge within the Lagos State chapter of the Labour Party.
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