The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially released the list of candidates for the June 20, 2026, Ekiti State governorship election, conspicuously excluding the candidate of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wole Oluyede.
The list, which was pasted on Monday at the INEC state office in Ado-Ekiti, features candidates and their running mates from 12 political parties that have been cleared to contest the election. The published candidates are:
· Opeyemi Falegan (Accord Party)
· Akande Oluwasegun (African Action Congress)
· Ayodeji Ojo (Action Democratic Party)
· Oluwadare Bejide (African Democratic Congress)
· Biodun Oyebanji (All Progressives Congress)
· Bidemi Awogbemi (Action People’s Party)
· Joseph Anifowose (Allied People’s Movement)
· Oyebanji Olajuyin (Labour Party)
· Blessing Abegunde (New Nigeria People’s Party)
· Olaniyi Ayodele (People’s Redemption Party)
· Owoola Daramola (Young Progressive Party)
· Victor Adetunji (Zenith Labour Party)
The absence of the PDP and its candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, stands out as a major development. Oluyede, a medical practitioner, had emerged as the party’s governorship candidate through a primary election conducted in November 2025 by the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) faction backed by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.
The exclusion is directly linked to the protracted and unresolved leadership crisis rocking the PDP. INEC’s decision aligns with its position from last week, where it officially declined to recognize the PDP’s NWC chaired by Kabiru Turaki, which is supported by the Makinde-Bala Mohammed bloc of the party.
The electoral body cited multiple court judgments, stating it would not update its records to reflect any changes in the PDP’s national leadership until all legal disputes surrounding the party’s contentious national convention held in Ibadan in November are fully resolved.
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