The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the list of candidates for the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for June 20, 2026, excluding the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wole Oluyede.
The list was pasted on Monday at the INEC office in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, and contains the names of governorship candidates and their running mates from 12 political parties cleared to participate in the election.
According to the list, candidates include Opeyemi Falegan of the Accord Party; Akande Oluwasegun of the African Action Congress (AAC); Ayodeji Ojo of the Action Democratic Party (ADP); Oluwadare Bejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC); and Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Others are Bidemi Awogbemi of the Action People’s Party (APP); Joseph Anifowose of the Allied People’s Movement (APM); Oyebanji Olajuyin of the Labour Party (LP); Blessing Abegunde of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP); Olaniyi Ayodele of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP); Owoola Daramola of the Young Progressive Party (YPP); and Victor Adetunji of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Noticeably absent from the list was Oluyede, the PDP’s governorship candidate, despite emerging winner of the party’s primary election conducted in November 2025.
Oluyede, a medical practitioner, was elected at the PDP primary organised by the party’s national working committee (NWC) backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde. He polled 279 votes to defeat his closest rival, Funso Ayeni, who scored 239 votes.
The exclusion of the PDP candidate is coming against the backdrop of a prolonged leadership crisis within the opposition party, which has split it into rival factions.
One faction is aligned with Governors Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, while the other is loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
INEC had last week declined to recognise the PDP national working committee chaired by Kabiru Turaki, which is supported by the Makinde-Mohammed bloc.
The electoral body cited several court judgements in its decision, stating that it would not update its records to reflect any changes in the PDP’s national leadership until all legal disputes surrounding the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November are resolved.
Following this development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will approach the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include its candidate in the list of contestants for the 2026 governorship election in Ekiti State.
In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the party accused INEC of bias, describing the exclusion of its candidate, Dr Oluwole Oluyede, as unjustified and contrary to established electoral procedures.
The PDP said INEC was duly notified of, and monitored, the party’s governorship primaries in Ekiti State, adding that the Commission subsequently issued reports confirming that the exercise complied with relevant laws and guidelines.
According to the party, INEC also released nomination portal codes to enable the submission of candidates’ details before allegedly blocking access to the portal a few days to the deadline, forcing the party to submit the nomination documents manually at INEC’s office, a submission it said was acknowledged by the Commission.
The party argued that there was no competing claim to the PDP ticket in Ekiti State and no court order restraining INEC from recognising Dr Oluyede as its governorship candidate.
It further maintained that INEC’s own monitoring report validated the primaries and nomination process.
The PDP said the Commission, being aware of the implications of excluding a duly nominated candidate, ought to have acted with caution by publishing the name of its candidate, pending the resolution of any issues, rather than omitting it entirely.
Following INEC’s action, the party said it had commenced legal steps to seek a court order compelling the electoral body to include its candidate in the list for the 2026 governorship poll.
It also urged INEC to uphold the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
“The exclusion of the name and particulars of our candidate from the list of candidates for the 2026 governorship election in Ekiti State by the INEC is yet another confirmation of the biased disposition of the current leadership of the Commission towards the affairs of the PDP.
“For the avoidance of doubt, INEC was duly notified of the conduct of our party’s governorship primaries. The Commission attended and monitored the exercise and subsequently issued reports confirming that the primaries complied with all extant laws and were democratically conducted.
“Following this, INEC released the relevant nomination portal codes to our party, through which the official nomination forms were accessed, before they disingenuously blocked the code a few days before the submission date, causing us to resort to manual submission at their office (receipt of which was acknowledged).”