The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the omission of its governorship candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, from the list of candidates released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election, warning that it will seek judicial intervention to overturn the decision. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party described the exclusion of Oluyede’s name and details as further evidence of what it called the “biased disposition” of the current INEC leadership against the PDP, insisting that all stipulated procedures leading to his nomination were duly observed.
The PDP said INEC was formally notified of its governorship primary election, monitored the exercise, and subsequently issued reports confirming that the process complied with extant electoral laws and was democratically conducted.
According to the party, INEC released nomination portal codes after the primaries to facilitate the submission of candidates’ details. However, it alleged that the commission later blocked the code a few days before the submission deadline, forcing the party to submit Oluyede’s particulars manually at INEC’s office, an action it said was officially acknowledged.
“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,” the statement read.
The party argued that, given the serious implications of excluding a validly nominated candidate, INEC should have exercised greater caution by including Oluyede’s name in the published list.
It maintained that there was no rival submission before the commission disputing Oluyede’s nomination, nor was there any court order restraining INEC from recognising him as the PDP’s governorship candidate in Ekiti State.
The PDP further noted that INEC’s own monitoring report affirmed the validity of its primaries and nomination process, stressing that the most lawful option available to the commission was to include its candidate’s name pending the resolution of any dispute.
Consequently, the opposition party said it had begun legal proceedings to compel INEC to include Oluyede on the list of candidates for the 2026 governorship election.
“Having failed to act appropriately, our party has immediately taken steps to approach the courts to compel INEC to do what it ought to have done in the first place,” the statement added.
