Ekiti: We’ll challenge exclusion of our candidate by INEC –PDP

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it would get the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) to list its candidate in the 2026 Ekiti gubernatorial poll, Oluwole Oluyede, amongst contestants for the election.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said the exclusion of Oluyede by INEC, is a further confirmation that the leadership of the electoral body is biased against it.

The electoral umpire had excluded the PDP Ekiti gubernatorial candidate from the list of contestants in the poll released on Monday.

The opposition party noted that INEC was duly notified of gubernatorial primary for the forthcoming Ekiti poll, based on which the electoral body monitored the exercise and confirmed that it complied with extant rules.

“For the avoidance of doubt, INEC was duly notified of the conduct of our party’s governorship primaries. The Commission attended and monitored the exercise and subsequently issued reports confirming that the primaries complied with all extant laws and were democratically conducted.

“Following this, INEC released the relevant nomination portal codes to our party, through which the official nomination forms were accessed, before they disingenuously blocked the code a few days before the submission date, causing us to resort to manual submission at their office (receipt of which was acknowledged).

“Being fully aware of the grave and far-reaching consequences of excluding a validly nominated candidate from an election, INEC ought to have acted with caution and responsibility by including the name of Dr. Oluwole Oluyede, the duly nominated candidate of the PDP, in the published list of candidates.

“This would have been the safest and most lawful course of action for the Commission, had it acted without bias. There is no contrary submission before INEC disputing the validity of Dr. Oluyede’s nomination. There is also no court order restraining the Commission from recognising him as the PDP’s candidate. Indeed, INEC’s own monitoring report attests to the validity of the primaries and the nomination process.”

It added that “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.

“While we undertake this long and tortuous legal route, we once again draw the attention of INEC to the expectations of Nigerians that the Commission must remain independent, impartial, and neutral in matters relating to political parties and the electoral process.

“While we acknowledge the saying that he who pays the piper dictates the tune, the Commission must be conscious that the tune currently being dictated is dangerously high-pitched and will ultimately harm the piper. INEC must always act in defence of democracy, and never in antagonism to it.”