Political parties interested in participating in the 2026 governorship election in Ekiti State have conducted their primaries, and their candidates for the election are expressing a thirst for victory, ABIODUN NEJO writes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, which fixed June 20, 2026, for the Ekiti governorship election, had stipulated that primaries for the determination of candidates should be conducted between October 20 and November 10, 2025. According to the INEC guideline, the personal particulars of the candidates would be published by the electoral umpire on December 29, while the political parties’ opportunity to withdraw candidates and replace them would lapse on January 12, 2026. The electoral body had stated that it would publish the final list of nominated candidates of the participating political parties on January 19, 2026.
For now, the parties and their candidates include the governing All Progressives Congress (Governor Biodun Oyebanji), Peoples Democratic Party (Dr Wole Oluyede), African Democratic Congress (Dare Bejide), and Young Progressives Party (Daramola Owoola). They also include the Social Democratic Party (David Bankole), New Nigeria People’s Party (Mr Blessing Abegunde), Accord (Opeyemi Falegan), and Labour Party (Prof Oyebanji Olajuyin). But pending publication of the final list, whether some candidates will be replaced, the outcome of appeals, and anticipated litigations over the choice of flagbearer in some parties, the candidates who emerged from the primaries are expressing readiness to win the forthcoming election.
APC, Oyebanji
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, a former university teacher and astute politician, emerged as the APC candidate through a consensus process, following the withdrawal from the race and support for him by the second aspirant, Mrs Atinuke Omolayo. Earlier, of the four individuals who obtained APC nomination forms, the party cleared two, Oyebanji and Omolayo, for the primary and disqualified Kayode Ojo and Olajumoke Abimbola. Ojo has since remained tight-lipped, leaving people guessing whether he would challenge the outcome, even as Oyebanji extended an olive branch, expressing readiness to work with him.
On her part, Abimbola said she had taken the party to court, seeking nullification of the process that led to the emergence of the APC candidate, a claim the APC State Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said could not be proven, as nothing of the sort had been served on anyone. Before the primaries, it is noteworthy that over 300 groups and organisations from within and outside APC endorsed Oyebanji for a second term, citing his performance and achievements across various sectors of the state’s economy.
APC spokesperson, Dipe, who expressed confidence that Oyebanji would win the 2026 governorship election, said, “We are the party to beat, and our candidate is the candidate. Not only the candidate, but also the one who will certainly win the election. Everyone knows it, even the deaf and the blind. Everybody in this state knows that APC will win, and the candidate, who is the incumbent, will be in that seat until 2030, when he will hand over to another candidate from our party.”
PDP, Oluyede
At its primaries, the PDP elected a medical expert, Dr Wole Oluyede, as its candidate. He is a dogged politician who, in 2018, aspired for the APC ticket and flew the flag of ADC in 2022. Oluyede, in the 2015 PDP primaries, defeated three others, Funso Ayeni, Funmi Ogun, and Peter Obafemi. Obafemi stepped down for Oluyede at the event, while Ogun conceded defeat and pledged to work for Oluyede’s victory.
The PDP candidate is seeking unity in the party in the party’s bid to return to the Oke Ayoba Government House through the June 20, 2026, election. He also has his eyes on setting up reconciliation committees at the ward, local government, and state levels to genuinely bring party members together. This follows the deep-seated divisions and bickering that have weakened a party, which had previously produced governors on three occasions in the state.
Oluyede, however, is assured that the PDP has all it takes to defeat the governing APC in the state, urging all party members and Ekiti residents to join him in the path of liberating Ekiti and ensuring the PDP’s victory in the governorship election. He said, “Our party will win the election and form the next government. PDP has a large membership base and strong support. The opponents are already shivering in the face of the unity we are fostering and our determination to win the election.”
However, while the factionalisation in the PDP at the national level has been seen as an albatross, the PDP candidate expressed confidence that it would not affect his victory in the election. Oluyede, who said crises are part of politics, in view of the presence of different tendencies, expressed hope that every crisis would be resolved.
ADC, Bejide
Amb Dare Bejide, a former Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, former Secretary to Ekiti State Government, and pioneer PDP state scribe, won the ADC ticket, having defeated four other aspirants. Bejide gave the assurance he would defeat APC in the 2026 election, citing the present realities in the state as the basis, as he stressed that the current administration in Ekiti State had failed to meet public expectations.
The ADC candidate said, “At the moment, Ekiti State Government is not doing very well for the people, and the people are looking for a change, a change in respect of the provision of infrastructure. So the people are looking for someone who will address their situation, and that is why our position is highly relevant. We are going to win, we are going to run a strong campaign in Ekiti State, and we are going to win,” Bejide said.
ADC State Chairman, Ilesanmi Omolayo, who said the party had begun the process of settling all interests that arose from the primaries, said, “We want to ensure that everybody works together as one family. Already, all the other aspirants are ready to work together with Amb Bejide.” Omolayo, who said ADC is widely spread across the nooks and crannies of the 16 local government areas of the state, expressed confidence that the party would win next year’s election. He said, “We have good people who are on the ground and mobilising. That is part of the chances of winning the election. Ekiti people are tired of APC; they are looking for a way out, and they have already chosen our party as an alternative. We have bright chances to win the election.”
The ADC state chairman, who said the party would disarm all opponents in the election with its manifesto and issue-based campaign, said, “When the time comes, more people will see that we have a good plan for the people. The APC or all these opponents cannot give what they do not have.”
YPP, Owoola
The YPP candidate, Daramola Owoola, a prolific politician and the Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council in Ekiti State, emerged as the party’s flagbearer at a delegates’ congress, with a promise that his party would emerge victorious in the Ekiti governorship election.
Owoola said, “I have been in politics for a very long time, and I have actually studied the terrain before I joined the contest. I know Ekiti people are not in support of the APC and its candidate in the state.
Once people are no longer interested in a party, we need somebody who is formidable from another party. That is why YPP has chosen me.”
The YPP candidate, who said his party was building on its structures to make it more formidable ahead of the election, said, “If you look at the last election, you realise we had spread across the state based on the election result. As I am talking to you, we are building on our structure, and we are having many more people coming to join us. They are coming from the different political parties, including the APC and PDP. They are joining us because they feel aggrieved with how their parties are being run. Look at what is happening in the PDP, look at the way their leaders have treated them in the APC. We are receiving their members. YPP is positioned to win the election in this state. We have a very strong membership base, so our victory is sure,” Owoola said.
SDP, Bankole
For the SDP, a renowned engineer, David Bankole, emerged as the candidate after two other aspirants, Peter Adesina and Adesola Dada, stepped down for him. SDP state chairman, Ayodele Bamikole, said that his party was well-equipped and well-prepared for victory in the June 2026 governorship election.
Bamikole said, “We are well-equipped and well-prepared for the election and victory. That was why we ensured a peaceful primary. We came up with a popular candidate who can challenge the candidates of other political parties. So, we are out there to win the election. We are well-prepared for it.”
The SDP chairman said the party had the necessary strength, including widespread support, to challenge the APC and the incumbent Governor Oyebanji and defeat the party in the forthcoming election. He added, “Politics is a game of numbers. Our party is enjoying popularity. Our candidate has the political clout, and we have our structures in all wards and across the state. So, I think this gives us an advantage to win the election come June 20 next year.”
Accord, Falegan
In the Accord, where philanthropist Opeyemi Falegan was affirmed as the party’s candidate through a consensus arrangement, there is the persuasion that it will form the next government in Ekiti State.
Falegan, who said that he was coming with a bold decision “to liberate Ekiti from the claws of recycled and greedy politicians with policies and programmes centred around transformation and empowerment of Ekiti people,” assured that his people-centric agenda would give Accord victory in the poll.
He promised to provide transformational leadership, formulate policies that would support a transformative agenda, and uphold democratic norms, value-adding acts, and citizen participation.
The Accord candidate lamented that vote-buying in choosing the person to govern the state had far-reaching negative consequences, as he advised that the electorate and party members should be discouraged from such acts. He said efforts would be geared towards stopping vote-buying in the 2026 election to disappoint politicians who could not win free and fair polls, but buy their way through, and he assured that international bodies would be involved in monitoring the election.
Falegan said, “Over time, the Ekiti State political system has witnessed an explosion in vote-buying, which must be discouraged and stopped before the next governorship election in Ekiti.”
Accord National Publicity Secretary, Omorogbe Osa, who commended members in Ekiti State for presenting a credible candidate for the election, called on the people of the state to give Falegan maximum support to win the forthcoming election.
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