The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of bias following the exclusion of its governorship candidate from the list of candidates for the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP described the omission of the name and particulars of its candidate, Dr. Oluwole Oluyede, as a confirmation of what it termed the “biased disposition” of the current INEC leadership against the party.
The PDP stated that INEC was duly notified of the party’s governorship primaries and that the commission monitored the exercise and issued reports confirming that the process complied with all extant laws and was democratically conducted.
According to the party, INEC subsequently released nomination portal codes through which official nomination forms were accessed.
However, the party alleged that INEC later blocked the portal codes a few days before the submission deadline, forcing the PDP to resort to manual submission of the nomination documents at INEC’s office, a submission it said was formally acknowledged.
The party argued that, given the grave implications of excluding a validly nominated candidate from an election, INEC ought to have exercised caution and included Dr. Oluyede’s name in the published list of candidates.
It maintained that there was no contrary submission challenging the validity of the nomination and no court order restraining INEC from recognising Dr. Oluyede as the PDP’s candidate.
The PDP further noted that INEC’s own monitoring report affirmed the validity of the party’s primaries and nomination process.
In response to the development, the party said it had commenced legal action to compel INEC to recognise its candidate. It also urged the commission to live up to public expectations by remaining independent, impartial, and neutral in the conduct of electoral matters.
While cautioning INEC against actions it said could undermine democracy, the PDP stressed that the commission must always act in defence of democratic principles and not in opposition to them.
