Ekiti 2026: PDP Heads to Court Over INEC’s Exclusion of Governorship Candidate

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has announced plans to approach the courts over the exclusion of its governorship candidate, Dr Oluwole Oluyede, from the list of candidates for the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The party made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong.

According to the PDP, INEC acted with bias by allegedly blocking access to its nomination portal codes a few days to the submission deadline, thereby forcing the party to submit Dr Oluyede’s nomination forms manually—a submission the commission reportedly acknowledged.

The PDP stressed that there is no dispute regarding the validity of Dr Oluyede’s nomination, citing INEC’s own monitoring report, which confirmed that the party’s governorship primary was lawfully and properly conducted.

The party described INEC’s action in excluding its candidate as “dangerously high-pitched,” warning that it poses a threat to public confidence in the electoral process.

“Having failed to act appropriately, our party has immediately taken steps to approach the courts to compel INEC to do what it ought to have done in the first place,” the statement read.

The PDP further insisted that INEC must act independently and in defence of democracy, vowing to exhaust all legal options to ensure that Dr Oluyede’s name is included on the official list of candidates ahead of the election.