Some opposition parties in Ekiti State, under the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), have threatened to boycott the June 20 governorship election over the exclusion of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, from the official list of candidates.
The warning came on Tuesday during a peaceful protest and meeting at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) state headquarters in Ado Ekiti. IPAC State Chairman Owoola Daramola, who joined PDP supporters at the event, said opposition parties would not participate in the election if any candidate was excluded.
Protesters, carrying placards, sang solidarity songs in front of the INEC office while INEC officials met with IPAC and PDP leaders to address the issue.
“As the IPAC chairman in Ekiti State, we want to establish one thing today. There must be free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections. We are not going into the election with anybody being excluded illegally,” Daramola told journalists.
Daramola emphasized that PDP conducted its primary according to the rules and its candidate emerged duly. He urged INEC to clarify publicly why Oluyede’s name was not included on the official list.
PDP chieftain Ayodeji Ogunsakin, a former deputy governorship candidate, commended IPAC for supporting PDP and alleged that elements of the APC were behind the exclusion. He questioned why INEC did not allow the party’s national leadership to upload Oluyede’s name on the electoral portal despite monitoring the primaries.
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“It is shocking to us. INEC supervised our primaries; there was no issue. We followed due process. There was no court order stopping us, and there was no injunction or judgment after the primaries,” Ogunsakin said.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, represented by the Head of Election and Party Monitoring, Kehinde Mustafa, said candidate-list issues are handled at INEC’s national headquarters. He advised PDP to submit grievances to INEC headquarters in Abuja and reiterated the commission’s commitment to neutrality and adherence to the Electoral Act.
The PDP has vowed to challenge Oluyede’s exclusion and ensure his participation in the election. According to INEC guidelines, parties’ opportunity to withdraw or replace candidates lapses on January 12, 2026, with the final list of nominated candidates scheduled for publication on January 19, 2026.