A pressure group, the Ekiti Liberation Agenda (ELA), has accused the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of engineering the alleged removal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Wole Oluyede, from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) official list of candidates.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti on behalf of the group, a former Chairman of Ado Local Government Area, Mrs Omotunde Fajuyi, claimed the omission was deliberate and politically motivated, rather than an administrative error.
Fajuyi said Oluyede emerged from what she described as a free and fair PDP primary election that was reportedly monitored and cleared by INEC officials, questioning why his name was later excluded without any formal explanation.
She further alleged that the action was influenced by the state’s ruling party, claiming that individuals who sought clarification from the INEC chairman were told he was “acting on orders.”
According to Fajuyi, the development reflects a broader pattern of political exclusion, citing earlier controversies within the APC primaries in which she alleged that aspirants, including Kayode Ojo and Abimbola Olajumoke, were disqualified without clear reasons.
She said the grievances prompted her withdrawal from partisan politics and the formation of the Ekiti Liberation Agenda, which she described as a citizens’ platform to resist what she termed systemic injustice in the state.
Fajuyi called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene, warning that unresolved political disputes could heighten tension in Ekiti State. “When politics is played in a way that discourages the best options, democracy suffers,” she said.
Responding, the Ekiti APC spokesperson, Segun Dipe, dismissed the allegations, describing ELA as an unknown and irrelevant group in the state’s political space.
Dipe denied any APC involvement in the PDP candidate’s omission, saying the party could not influence INEC’s processes. He added that INEC had already explained Oluyede’s exclusion as a failure to upload required documents within the stipulated timeframe, insisting the issue had nothing to do with the APC.
