Ekiti State PDP chieftains declared today that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to remove Dr. Wole Oluyede, the party’s candidate for governor, from the list of applicants for the June 20 governorship election will not stand.
According to The PUNCH, the party leaders said they were confident Oluyede will run for office and help the PDP win in Ekiti State.
They gave a speech at Igede Ekiti in the Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area, where PDP leaders from all over the state met with party members from the community’s three political wards.
“Oluyede is a formidable candidate, which is why you recently heard that his name was missing at the INEC,” stated Toba Adaramola, a former chairman of the Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area.
“The matter is in control, so don’t worry. We have Dr. Wole Oluyede as our candidate for the June 20, 2026, gubernatorial election, and you can count on it.
On June 20, Adaramola promised party leaders that Oluyede would receive a significant number of votes from the region, stating, “Igede Ekiti, which has three political wards, is largely a PDP town. Since Oluyede is the most reliable substitute required in Ekiti State, we would handover the town to the party as usual at the proper moment.
“We know the difference when we compare the present All Progressives Congress government with that of our party,” the former council chairman stated, adding that the PDP provided the community with unprecedented democratic benefits during his term.
“Our community needs significant growth. We are fed up with the current disregard for our people’s needs. Dr. Wole Oluyede is the answer, and something needs to be done.
Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, a former South-West zonal chairman and state chairman of the PDP, advised members not to give up.
“Don’t give up or let the fact that Dr. Oluyede’s name is now not on the list of candidates for the 2026 election deter you. By God’s blessing, Oluyede, our party’s candidate, will take over as the Government House’s next landlord in Ekiti State, Ogundipe stated.
He thanked members for the high turnout and promised party supporters that the demands of the Igede community will be completely met once the PDP took back power.
Igede Ekiti leaders were praised by Elder Martins Ibikunle, another party chieftain, for being the first to call an open meeting to rally support for the PDP and its candidate following the primary election.
Speaking as well, Gani Salau, the spokeswoman for the Wole Oluyede Campaign Organization, advised followers to “remain calm and have it at the back of your minds that Dr. Oluyede is the party’s candidate despite efforts of detractors to remove his name.” He will become the next governor of Ekiti State, and his name will appear on the list.
Salau urged Igede Ekiti residents to continue the mobilization effort and praised them for coming out in huge numbers to support Oluyede and the PDP.
Recall that Oluyede, the flagbearer for the PDP governorship, criticized on Thursday that his name was left off of the list of candidates that INEC had made public on Tuesday.
Oluyede claimed during a press conference in Ikere Ekiti that INEC had no authority to omit his name because he had legitimately won the party’s primary election under its watchful eye. He promised that following the required discussions, including with INEC, he would take the proper steps.
The PDP and its candidate were left off of INEC’s list of political parties and candidates for the Ekiti gubernatorial election.
The Commission decided to hold party primaries to choose candidates between October 20 and November 10, 2025, and set June 20 as the date for the Ekiti governorship election.
The PDP was one of 16 political parties that held primaries and produced candidates for the election in accordance with the rules.
INEC stated that candidates’ personal information was to be made public on December 29 and that political parties had until January 12, 2026, to withdraw and replace their candidates.
Additionally, the electoral authority said that on January 19, 2026, the full list of candidates nominated for the race would be released.
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