Ekiti gov: PDP hails courtroom order for INEC to recognise Oluyede

The Peoples Democratic Party has hailed a Federal Excessive Court docket ruling in Abuja that directed the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee to recognise Oluwole Oluyede as its governorship candidate in Ekiti State.

PDP Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, mentioned in a press release on Friday that the Court docket’s ruling clears the best way for the occasion’s victory within the Ekiti Governorship election.

Regardless of INEC’s announcement of July 20 because the election date, the PDP had been mired in inner disaster. INEC had beforehand rejected the occasion’s governorship candidate, Oluyede, led by Tanimu Turaki, SAN, citing non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

The candidate and the PDP challenged the choice in courtroom, and on Friday, the Court docket ordered INEC to incorporate Oluyede’s identify and the occasion’s emblem on the poll and barred the fee from excluding him from any election-related actions.

PDP acknowledged, “The judgment of the Federal Excessive Court docket, Abuja, presided over by Honourable Justice Umar, has granted all of the reliefs sought by Dr. Oluwole Oluyede and the Peoples Democratic Party within the go well with FHC/ABJ/CS/40/2026 in opposition to the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee.

“Particularly, the courtroom frowned on the exclusion of Dr. Oluyede, who was the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ekiti, and directed the Fee to instantly recognise the candidate and embrace his identify on the listing of candidates and the emblem of the occasion on the poll for the Ekiti Governorship elections. The courtroom additional granted an order of perpetual injunction stopping the Fee from additional rejecting or excluding the candidate from actions associated to the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti State.

“Dr. Oluwole Oluyede was offered with a certificates of return by the Nationwide Chairman of the Party, Kabiru Turaki, SAN, because the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2026 Governorship elections in Ekiti.
Nevertheless, INEC, beneath the management of Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, flagrantly and unlawfully refused to incorporate his identify on the listing of candidates.

“The candidate and the occasion approached the courtroom to query the authorized authority of the Fee to behave within the method it did.
We welcome this judgment as a affirmation of the fact in Ekiti and acknowledge that certainly justice has been served.

“Moreover, we admonish INEC to behave throughout the confines of the legislation and chorus from unbridled partisanship. The Fee is conscious of a number of judgments to the impact that it can’t exclude lawfully nominated candidates, as within the prompt case. They need to bear in mind the historic destructive roles which previous electoral commissions performed within the collapse of democracy in earlier republics and consciously act in favour of defending multi-party democracy, and never in any other case.”

On January 30, a Federal Excessive Court docket in Ibadan nullified the PDP Nationwide Conference held on November 15, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State, and ordered Turaki (SAN) and others to cease presenting themselves as nationwide officers of the occasion.

Earlier than the ruling, PDP governors had endorsed the Ibadan Conference, which produced Turaki and members of the Nationwide Working Committee for a four-year time period. The governors had additionally overseen the transition from former Chairman Umar Damagum to Turaki earlier than Damagum’s tenure ended on December 9.

In the meantime, a faction loyal to Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike established a 13-member caretaker committee on December 8, appointing Mohammed Abdulrahman as Performing Nationwide Chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as Performing Secretary, amongst others, with a 60-day mandate.

Makes an attempt by each the Wike-aligned faction and the governors’ camp to carry conferences at Wadata Plaza on November 18, 2025, descended into chaos, leading to dysfunction and bodily confrontations. The police subsequently sealed the PDP Nationwide Secretariat, which has remained closed since.

Each factions later sought recognition from INEC, however the fee declined to recognise both group, resulting in extended authorized disputes because the 2027 basic elections approached.

Amid the disaster, the Wike-backed caretaker committee introduced on February 3 {that a} recent Nationwide Conference to elect new PDP leaders would happen in Abuja from March 29 to 30. On February 12, the Court docket of Appeal heard all consolidated fits associated to the PDP management disaster and reserved judgment, with the date for the ruling to be communicated to the events.

In a current interview with The PidomNigeria, Wike’s faction acknowledged that it had notified INEC of its plans and would proceed with the Abuja conference on March 29 and 30 to elect new occasion leaders.