PDP heads to court over INEC’s exclusion of Wole Oluyede from Ekiti guber candidates list

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of bias for excluding its candidate, Wole Oluyede, from the Ekiti governorship race.

On Monday, the electoral umpire released the list of candidates and their running mates for the June 20, 2026, governorship election in the south-west state.

The list, pasted at the INEC headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, includes names of candidates of 12 political parties, excluding the PDP’s Oluyede.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ini Ememobong, PDP spokesperson, said INEC deliberately omitted Oluyede’s name despite monitoring and validating the party’s governorship primary.

Ememobong said INEC also released nomination portal codes to the party, which were used to access the official nomination forms, before blocking the codes days before the submission deadline.

He said the action forced the party to submit the nomination documents manually at INEC’s office, adding that the commission acknowledged receipt of the documents.

“Being fully aware of the grave and far-reaching consequences of excluding a validly nominated candidate from an election, INEC ought to have acted with caution and responsibility by including the name of Dr Oluwole Oluyede, the duly nominated candidate of the PDP, in the published list of candidates,” the statement reads.

“This would have been the safest and most lawful course of action for the commission, had it acted without bias. There is no contrary submission before INEC disputing the validity of Dr Oluyede’s nomination.

“There is also no court order restraining the commission from recognising him as the PDP’s candidate. Indeed, INEC’s own monitoring report attests to the validity of the primaries and the nomination process.”

Ememobong said the PDP has “immediately taken steps to approach the courts to compel INEC” to include its candidate’s name in the governorship race.

“While we undertake this long and torturous legal route, we once again draw the attention of INEC to the expectations of Nigerians that the commission must remain independent, impartial, and neutral in matters relating to political parties and the electoral process,” he said.

Ememobong added that INEC must always act in defence of democracy and not undermine it.