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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the June 20, 2026 Ekiti governorship election, Wole Oluyede, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu prevailed on him to withdraw his petition challenging the re-election of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, despite his insistence that the poll was marred by irregularities.
Oluyede, who has also thrown his weight behind Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, said the President personally intervened alongside members of his family and political associates, leading him to abandon the legal battle in what he described as the overall interest of Ekiti.
His disclosure came after the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal struck out the petition following his formal application for its withdrawal.
“I withdrew the petition at the tribunal and it was struck out today, Tuesday. I withdrew it based on the intervention of my family, my brother, the progressive caucus and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Oluyede said during a live interview programme.
He maintained that his withdrawal did not amount to an endorsement of the conduct of the election, insisting that the poll was fraught with irregularities.
Oluyede said he nevertheless decided to put the contest behind him, stressing that politics should not override the wider interest of the people.
“I thank God we didn’t lose a soul in the course of the election, nobody was shot, maimed or killed and I am happy about that. People have to understand that life goes beyond politics,” he said.
The PDP candidate also confirmed that Tinubu had personally asked him to support his re-election in 2027, a request he said he had accepted without negotiating for any political appointment or other benefit.
“Let me assure you that though the President invited me, we discussed and he asked me to support his re-election and we didn’t discuss anything about what he wants to offer me, but I am supporting him based on Ekiti interest and I am too expensive to buy,” he said.
Oluyede said his relationship with Tinubu predated the current political dispensation, recalling his previous membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his involvement as one of the financiers of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA).
He attributed his decision to back the President partly to what he described as improvements under the Tinubu administration, citing the absence of persistent fuel scarcity and growth in Gross Domestic Product.
“No more fuel scarcity, there is increase in Gross Domestic Product which is buttressed by the World Bank. The question now is, how do we tap from the ongoing development as Ekiti people?” he said.
Oluyede said the considerations informed the establishment of his political group, Oluyede Progressive Alliance for Renewed Hope Agenda (OPARHA).
He said he was unaware of who would emerge as the PDP presidential candidate for 2027, even as he committed himself to Tinubu’s re-election.
Oluyede said he would work with Oyebanji and other stakeholders to deliver more than 90 per cent of Ekiti votes to the President.
Speaking on healthcare, the medical consultant advocated a Universal Health Programme that would extend healthcare coverage to virtually every Ekiti resident, although he said it would not be entirely free.
He thanked Ekiti residents for their support during the June 20 governorship election and urged them to sustain their participation in future elections.
Meanwhile, the tribunal, at its first sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, struck out the petition after Oluyede and the PDP formally sought its withdrawal.
The three-member panel, chaired by Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi, granted the application after counsel to Oluyede and the PDP, Paul Komolafe, moved the motion.
Counsel to Oyebanji and the APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu, and counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sulaiman Ibrahim, did not oppose the withdrawal.
Kutigi consequently struck out the petition in accordance with the request of Oluyede and the PDP.
