By Ayodele Oni
The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the candidacy of Dr. Wole Oluyede as the official flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) for the upcoming June 20, 2026, Ekiti State Governorship election.
In a ruling delivered on Friday, Justice Umar found significant merit in the reliefs sought by the applicant, effectively quashing the previous exclusion of the party from the electoral process.
The court chastised the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) refusal to publish the PDP candidate’s name, describing it as “illegal and unlawful.”
Specifically, the court frowned at the exclusion of Dr. Oluyede, who was the Governorship candidate of the PDP in Ekiti, and directed the Commission to immediately recognise the candidate and include his name on the list of candidates and the logo of the party on the ballot for the Ekiti Governorship elections.
It further granted an order of perpetual injunction preventing the Commission from further rejecting or excluding the candidate from activities related to the forthcoming Governorship elections in Ekiti State.
Key Judicial Declarations:
• Illegal Exclusion: The court declared that INEC acted outside its legal powers by neglecting to publish the PDP candidate’s name following the party’s primary process.
• Mandatory Inclusion: The court issued an Order of Mandamus, compelling and directing INEC to immediately include and publish Dr. Wole Oluyede’s name on the official list of candidates for the Ekiti polls.
• Lack of Discretionary Power: The judgment clarified that INEC has no legal authority to unilaterally disqualify or refuse the publication of a candidate submitted by a recognized political party without a valid legal basis
Meanwhile, the national leadership of the PDP has hailed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja presided by Honourable Justice Umar, which granted all the reliefs sought by Dr. Oluwole Oluyede and the Peoples Democratic Party in the suit FHC/ABJ/CS/40/2026 against the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Dr. Oluyede was presented with a certificate of return by the National Chairman of the Party, Kabiru Turaki, SAN, as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2026 Governorship elections in Ekiti.
However, INEC, under the leadership of Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, flagrantly and unlawfully refused to include his name on the list of candidates, citing an existing court injunction restraining from doing so.
The candidate and the party approached the court to question the legal authority of the Commission to act in the manner it did.
A statement by the party’s spokesman,
Ini Ememobong, stated that “We welcome this judgment as a confirmation of the reality in Ekiti and acknowledge that indeed justice has been served.
“Furthermore, we admonish INEC to act within the confines of the law and refrain from unbridled partisanship.
“The Commission is aware of several judgments to the effect that it cannot exclude lawfully nominated candidates, as in the instant case.
“They should remember the historic negative roles which past electoral commissions played in the collapse of democracy in the past republics and consciously act in favour of protecting multi-party democracy, and not otherwise.
“With this over, the path to victory in the Ekiti Governorship election is clear, and we charge our members to hit the campaign trail with their message of redemption through the candidature of Dr. Oluwole Oluyede.”
