Ekiti 2026: Group accuses APC of masterminding removal of PDP candidate’s name from INEC's list

A group, Ekiti Liberation Agenda (ELA), has accused the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of masterminding the alleged removal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, Wole Oluyede, from INEC’s official list of candidates.

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INEC had recently displayed the list of governorship candidates from all political parties and their particulars at its office in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, ahead of the June 20 election. Mr Oluyede’s name was missing on the list.

Omotunde Fajuyi, who spoke on behalf of the group in Ado Ekiti on Monday, claimed that the omission of the PDP candidate from the INEC list was not accidental but a deliberate act.

She alleged that the APC had earlier orchestrated the disqualification of some aspirants from the primary of the party, leaving only the incumbent governor as the consensus candidate because of the fear of contest.

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She stated that Mr Oluyede had emerged from a free and fair primary election, duly monitored and reportedly cleared by INEC officials, questioning why his name was later excluded without any formal explanation.

Ms Fajuyi further alleged that the decision was influenced by the incumbent state government, claiming that those who approached the INEC Chairman were told he was ‘acting on orders.’

According to her, the controversy surrounding the PDP candidate’s omission compounded earlier grievances within the APC, where she alleged that credible aspirants, including Kayode Ojo and another female aspirant, Abimbola Olajumoke, were unjustly disqualified without reasons during party primaries.

She said these developments prompted her decision to step aside from partisan politics and join other concerned citizens to form the ELA, which she described as a platform to resist what she termed systemic injustice and political exclusion in the state.

She called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene, warning that continued silence by authorities could heighten tension in the state.

“When politics is being played in such a way that will not encourage the best option, we have issues where the ruling government disqualified one of our daughters and one of our sons, Engineer Kayode Ojo and Jumoke.

“No reasons were adduced for their disqualification; nobody does that, the ruling party that is taking everybody for granted. I was a member of APC, but due to what happened, I had to step aside.

“And we heard some terrible stories about how Ekiti money was being taken to negotiate things so that there won’t be a contest. And they came around to make a sham of the primaries. It’s not my business because I’m not a party member.

“But that’s okay, it’s their internal thing. Now, INEC has published its list, and they omitted the PDP candidate, Dr Wole Oluyede, who had free and fair primaries if they had issues in their party. I’m not a PDP member either; they know how to treat it internally but INEC was there. I have read the report of INEC,” Ms Fajuyi said.

Reacting to the allegations, the Ekiti APC spokesperson, Segun Dipe, described the group as a meddlesome interloper, saying that they are anonymous people not known to the state politics.

“The ELA that you are talking about is not known in the politics of Ekiti; they are just meddlesome interlopers.

“It is not possible for APC to mastermind the exclusion of any person, or to disqualify our member, but the national headquarters that conducts the primary, having not met some qualifications.

“On Oluyede, go and read the INEC position, it is clear they did not upload at the time, they are supposed to do, to be accepted by INEC. So, how did that concern us?

“Again, in PDP, remember they have three different factions, as INEC did observe and told them. Again, how does this concern the Ekiti APC or government? It is not in our interest to get anyone disqualified,” Mr Dipe said in a telephone interview.