The Independent National Electoral Commission has released the names and particulars of 12 governorship candidates and their running mates for the June 20, 2026 election in Ekiti State, with the People’s Democratic Party conspicuously absent from the list.
Checks at the INEC state headquarters along the new Iyin-Ekiti Road in Ado-Ekiti on Monday showed that neither the name nor the particulars of the PDP governorship candidate, Dr Wole Oluyede, and his running mate were displayed among the candidates published by the commission.
Oluyede had emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate at the party’s primary held on November 8, 2025, which was conducted by the Aminu Turaki-led National Working Committee.
Sources within INEC attributed the omission to the lingering leadership crisis rocking the PDP at the national level, which has led to the emergence of parallel factions laying claim to the party’s leadership and a series of court cases arising from the dispute.
According to the list released by the electoral body, the candidates cleared to contest the Ekiti governorship election include Opeyemi Falegan and Omoyemi Olaleye of the Accord Party; Akande Oluwasegun and Oluwasanmi Fajuyigbe of the African Action Congress; Ayodeji Ojo and Itunu Ibitoye of the Action Democratic Party; and Oluwadare Bejide with Paul Olowoyeye of the African Democratic Congress.
Others are the All Progressives Congress candidates, Biodun Oyebanji and Monisade Afuye; Bidemi Awogbemi and Akinyemi Adewumi of the Action People’s Party; Joseph Anifowose and Margaret Ilesanmi of the Allied People’s Movement; and Labour Party’s Oyebanji Olajuyin with Ayokunle Okumade.
The list also features Blessing Abegunde and Francis Ajayi of the New Nigeria Peoples Party; Olaniyi Ayodele and Modupe Adebiyi of the People’s Redemption Party; Owoola Daramola and Opeyemi Adeyemo of the Young Progressive Party; as well as Victor Adetunji and Adesina Oyeniyi of the Zenith Labour Party.
As of the time of filing this report, INEC had yet to issue an official statement on the omission of the PDP candidate from the published list.
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