Let Pastor Dayo Ekong Be
Since Peter Obi’s defection to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), I have read numerous commentaries unfairly denigrating Pastor Dayo Ekong. This is both troubling and deeply unjust.
Pastor Dayo Ekong, now the National Vice Chairperson (South West) of the NDC, previously served as the Chairperson of the Labour Party in Lagos State. I worked closely with her during the build-up to the 2023 elections. We spent countless hours comparing notes, strategising, and thinking through ways to outmaneuver the All Progressives Congress and deliver the South West for Peter Obi. I witnessed, firsthand, the depth of her sacrifices.
When she assumed leadership of the Labour Party in Lagos in January 2023, the party structure was weak and severely underfunded. Like Ogun State, Lagos received little or no financial support from the national leadership. Yet, Pastor Ekong did not hesitate, she stepped in with her personal resources, building structures across all the local governments and wards in the state.
Even before that, when Peter Obi joined the party in 2022, she donated her property on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, to serve as the Lagos State Secretariat—free of charge. She personally covered all utility bills for as long as the party occupied the premises.
Upon becoming State Chairperson, she went further, renting a new office in Ikeja GRA for strategic reasons, relocating the Party secretariat, and fully equipping it with furniture and computers. It was all at her own expense.
Through the turbulence of the election period, she bore the burden of running the party almost singlehandedly. She invested heavily—financially, physically, and emotionally—in the Peter Obi project. She became one of its most visible and articulate advocates in Lagos state, regularly appearing on Channels Television and Arise TV to defend and promote Obi's candidacy.
But her commitment came at a personal cost. Her businesses were targeted. Her restaurant in Victoria Island was attacked and looted. The message left behind was chilling: withdraw your support for Peter Obi or lose everything. Yet, she did not back down.
In the days leading up to the election, she again dipped into her personal funds to establish a situation room for independent monitoring and collation of results. It is to her credit that the Labour Party secured victory for Peter Obi in Lagos State, despite widespread irregularities. She coordinated the deployment of polling unit agents and collation officers across the state, many of whom, it must be said, served without compensation from the national headquarters of Labour Party. Anyone who has truly engaged in grassroots politics will understand the magnitude of such sacrifice.
It is also on record that a lot of Labour Party supporters and party officials were brutalised in Lagos, leading to their hospitalisation. It was Pastor Dayo Ekong that picked up the hospital bills of the injured and even covered some of the Party's legal fees in Lagos.
When the crisis within the Labour Party became intractable and irreconcilable, she made the difficult decision to resign and move on. On April 7, she was appointed National Vice Chairperson (South West) of the NDC.
It is therefore both surprising and disheartening to see individuals, many of whom have not contributed even a fraction of what she gave to the Peter Obi project, calling for her resignation over past disagreements with Peter Obi. Some people, certainly do not know what it means for a Yoruba woman from a prominent Yoruba family to come out and openly campaign for an Igbo presidential candidate in Lagos state which is regarded as the stronghold of Tinubu and the headquarters of political thuggery.
Politics is not a purity contest. It is a space for compromise, negotiation, and reconciliation. To demand her removal on the basis of prior differences is not only unreasonable, it is destructive. If everyone who has ever disagreed with Peter Obi is to be driven out of the NDC, then who, exactly, will remain?
Pastor Dayo Ekong has earned her place through sacrifice, resilience, and unwavering commitment to her political beliefs. The ongoing criticism directed at her is not only misplaced—it is unfair, and it must stop.
Let her be.
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