The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of candidates for the 8 August governorship election in Osun State.
The list is in a letter dated 4 March from INEC Secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony, addressed to the commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State.
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The letter noted that 9 March (Monday) is slated in the approved timetable and schedule of activities for the 2026 Osun State governorship election as the last day for publishing the final list of nominated candidates.
Musa Olurode, INEC public relations officer in Osun State, shared the details of the list in a statement on Friday, confirming that candidates from 14 political parties were cleared to take part in the election.
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The list contains the names of governorship candidates, their running mates, ages, academic qualifications and political parties.
Notably absent from the list are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), two parties that participated in the previous governorship election in the state. The incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, won the last election in 2022 on the PDP platform. However, he defected from the party to join Accord last year.
Under Nigeria’s electoral guidelines, the final list confirms candidates whose nominations have been accepted by the commission ahead of the commencement of campaigns by political parties.
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14 parties make the cut
According to the document published by the commission, Governor Adeleke will contest the election on the Accord party’s platform, with Kola Adewusu as his running mate.
Olanrewaju Farinloye, is the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, while Fadahunsi Olaniyi is listed as the deputy governorship candidate.
For the African Action Congress (AAC), Esan Olajide will contest as its governorship candidate, with Bello Yekeen as running mate.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) also has Salaam Folasayo as its governorship candidate and Agiri Temitope as the deputy governorship candidate.
For the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Adeagbo Yemisi is the governorship candidate, and Atanda Babatunde is listed as the deputy governorship candidate.
Mrs Adeagbo is the only female governorship candidate on the list. Aside from her, the only other woman among the candidates is Mrs Agiri, who is running as deputy governorship candidate on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The list also shows Bola Oyebamiji as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Others are: All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Young Progressive Party (YPP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Why PDP is missing
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which won the 2022 governorship election in Osun, is absent from the final list of parties cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 8 August poll.
The party had begun its nomination process, with Governor Adeleke purchasing the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms and subsequently passing the screening exercise ahead of the planned governorship primary.
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However, the process was disrupted by the leadership crisis at the national level of the party, which led to the suspension and counter-suspension of key officials responsible for supervising primaries and transmitting candidates’ names to INEC.
The internal crisis prompted Governor Adeleke to leave the party and join the Accord Party to pursue a second term in office.
As the dispute lingered, the party failed to complete the nomination process and upload the name and particulars of its candidate within the deadline set by INEC.
Musa Olurode, INEC public relations officer in Osun earlier stated that only parties that conducted valid primaries and uploaded the names of their candidates and running mates within the stipulated deadline were included in the final list.
The commission said 14 political parties met the requirements and were cleared to participate in the election.
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