The Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to use every available legal means to seek redress over the omission of its candidate from the list of contestants released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2026 Ekiti State Governorship Election.
A statement issued by the party on the matter accused INEC of exhibiting high scale bias by excluding its flag bearer from the published list, which was displayed on Monday at INEC Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti.
The list contains the names of governorship candidates and their deputies from 12 political parties who were cleared to participate in the election.
However, the PDP candidate, Chief Wole Oluyede, was conspicuously missing from the list.
The PDP urged INEC to uphold democratic principles and avoid actions that undermine the electoral process, maintaining that as an umpire, INEC has a morale duty to show that it does not support any side in the dispute within the party.
The party said the exclusion of its candidate “further confirms the biased disposition of the current INEC leadership against the PDP.”
It maintained that INEC was formally notified of its governorship primaries and it monitored the exercise, and issued reports confirming compliance with all relevant laws.
The party added that INEC released nomination portal codes to the PDP, which were later blocked shortly before the submission deadline, forcing the party to submit documents manually and the submissions were duly acknowledged.
According to the PDP, given the serious implications of excluding a validly nominated candidate, INEC should have taken the safest and most lawful step by including Oluyede’s name in the final list, particularly as there was no opposing submission or court order challenging his nomination.
The party noted that INEC’s own monitoring report validates the primaries and nomination process.
The PDP disclosed that it has already initiated legal action to compel INEC to reverse the decision, while reminding the commission of the expectations of Nigerians that it remains independent, impartial, and neutral in political disputes.
The party warned that actions perceived as antagonistic to democracy could ultimately undermine the credibility of the electoral umpire, stressing that INEC must always act in defence of democracy rather than working against the process.
(Champion)
