The South West Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the exclusion of its duly nominated Ekiti State governorship candidate from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal as “grossly embarrassing.”
Speaking through its Regional Publicity Secretary, Chief Sanya Atofarati, the party called on Nigerians to prevail on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, to immediately and formally register as a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). According to the party, such a move would at least preserve whatever remains of his public image and spare Nigerians the pretence of neutrality, rather than continuing a charade that only reinforces the perception of INEC as a partisan appendage of the Tinubu-led APC administration.
Chief Atofarati stated that the conduct of INEC in Ekiti State clearly suggests that the Commission is acting under instructions aimed at advancing a one-party state agenda. He noted that the recent display of open partisanship is not only dangerous but also a disturbing signal of what Nigerians should expect ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Nothing is more embarrassing than INEC’s flagrant disregard for extant electoral laws,” the party said. “INEC was duly notified pursuant to Section 82 of the Electoral Act. It acknowledged receipt of the notice, deployed officials to monitor the PDP governorship primary held on 8th November, compiled reports at both the state and national levels, and issued a Certified True Copy of the monitoring report to the PDP.”
The party further recalled that in a post-primary litigation instituted by two aspirants at the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti where INEC was joined as a defendant, and the Commission swore to an affidavit affirming that it monitored the PDP primary and that Dr. Wole Olumayokun Oluyede emerged as the winner.
“What then is INEC’s interest, if not a deliberate attempt to sabotage the PDP and undermine Nigeria’s democracy?” the statement queried. “Nigerians must be alerted to the APC’s broader plan ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Ekiti State is today being used as a litmus test. This is deliberate, reckless, and sacrilegious.”
Chief Atofarati emphasized that, as of today, there is no competing or parallel nomination within the PDP in Ekiti State other than that of Dr. Wole Olumayokun Oluyede. There is also no court order restraining INEC from recognising the PDP candidate or from acting on its own monitoring report.
“One is therefore compelled to ask whether INEC has now been formally renamed an APC annex,” the party added.
With the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for June 2026, the PDP said the people of Ekiti are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reaffirm democracy and remind the ruling party that “the power of the people is greater than the people in power.”
