Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding answers over the unexplained removal of the party’s governorship candidate, Dr Wole Oluyede, from the INEC portal.
The protesters, who gathered at the INEC office in Ado‑Ekiti, expressed deep concern that the electoral body’s action lacked transparency and due process, raising fears and questions among party members and sympathisers.
Addressing the demonstrators, the Chairman of the Inter‑Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Ekiti State, Owoola Daramola, alongside PDP stakeholder Deji Ogunsakin, insisted that INEC must account for the removal of Dr Oluyede’s name.
“We deserve clarity on why the name of our candidate, who was duly sponsored and supervised by INEC during our primaries, has been omitted from the list,” Daramola told the crowd.
Ogunsakin added that the development had “generated anxiety among PDP supporters across the state,” emphasising that the party’s faithful were demanding answers to protect the democratic process.
Responding to the protesters on behalf of INEC, the Head of the Legal Department in Ekiti State, Tunde Salako, explained that the state office was not in a position to explain the circumstances surrounding the removal.
“The commission’s headquarters in Abuja remains the only authority empowered to explain the circumstances relating to the disqualification of Dr. Oluyede,” Salako said.
He added that any official response to the concerns raised by the PDP and its supporters would have to come from the national headquarters of INEC.
It will be recalled that Dr Wole Oluyede, the PDP governorship candidate for the 2026 Ekiti State election, had publicly criticised his exclusion from the initial list of candidates released by INEC.
In a statement, Dr Oluyede said his omission came as a surprise, given that his emergence as the PDP flagbearer was supervised by the electoral commission.
“It has been drawn to my attention that INEC released a list of candidates that did not include my name as the PDP candidate. That came as a surprise to me in the sense that my emergence as a candidate of the PDP was witnessed by INEC.
“They supervised it, they wrote the report, and in actual fact, there have been suits against the election in which they came to swear that we had a primary and that I was the candidate. I am not aware of any reason that should preclude me from the elections,” he stated.
Dr Oluyede was declared the PDP governorship flagbearer at a primary conducted by the Tanimu Turaki (SAN)‑led National Working Committee of the party, a faction loyal to Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa).