A medical expert, Wole Oluyede, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State for the June 20, 2026 governorship election.

Oluyede emerged victorious in the party’s primary election, which held on Saturday through the early hours of Sunday, having polled 279 votes to defeat Funso Ayeni, who scored 239 votes, and Funmilayo Ogun, who had 17 votes.

The Chairman of the PDP Primary Election Committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwabo, thanked the gladiators, party leaders and members in the state for their peaceful conduct during the exercise.

Meanwhile, the PDP has challenged the governing All Progressives Congress in the state to brace up for defeat in the 2026 governorship poll following Oluyede’s emergence as its flag bearer.

PDP South-West Publicity Secretary, Chief Sanya Atofarati, said in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Sunday that the successful conduct of the primary election was a clear indication that the opposition party remained “a step ahead of the confusion-prone APC under a rudderless leadership”.

“The PDP has once again demonstrated its capacity to manage its affairs and provide leadership at a critical time in our nation’s history, meeting the yearnings of millions of Ekiti people who have been erroneously led by a ‘one-chance’ clueless regime for the past three years.

“Our party’s highly successful governorship primary, held at VINO Event Centre in Ado Ekiti on Saturday speaks volumes of the PDP’s track record of organisational prowess, openness, transparency, and commitment to internal democracy.

“Ekiti people who witnessed the carnival-like event cannot help but appreciate the beauty of democracy displayed by the country’s oldest political party under the peaceful atmosphere of a united family.

“The emergence of our candidate through a free, fair and credible process is already a source of worry to the crisis-infested and confusion-prone APC particularly in Ekiti State whose major preoccupation has been the derailment of governance under the clueless Oyebanji-led administration.

“The waiting game is over as the emergence of Oluyede, an accomplished politician and veteran in the struggle signals an automatic red card for the APC. Their rigging machinery will be dismantled in 2026 by a massive vote for the PDP from the resilient Ekiti people who have been pauperised, dehumanised, and rendered defenceless by the APC’s misrule since 2018.

“However, we must commend all the contenders in the keenly contested primary for their show of sportsmanship, understanding, and camaraderie. We believe this victory belongs to the PDP family as a whole. Yet, the task ahead remains enormous hence, the need for magnanimity in victory,” Atofarati stated.

But the APC State Public Relations Officer, Segun Dipe, who said the PDP had the right to brag about its flag bearer, expressed confidence that the PDP candidate would be defeated again in the 2026 election, as had always been the case.

Dipe said on the telephone, “This is not the first time he (Oluyede) will be coming to contest. He has contested in virtually every political party in Ekiti.

“He comes in every four years to contest, and we know that he will lose again in 2026.

“We are still expecting him in 2030 to come back and contest on another platform because it is one election period one platform. It is PDP’s turn to host him this time around.”

The party’s spokesperson derided the PDP for referring to the APC government in Ekiti as clueless, saying, “We would rather be clueless and be achieving what we are achieving and have a good relationship with the electorate and the good people of Ekiti. We don’t want to have the kind of clue that PDP as a party is having right now that they have no bearing, that they don’t have a party at the national level.”

Recall that the APC on October 27 elected the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji, as its governorship candidate through a consensus arrangement.

The Chairman of the APC Affirmation Congress Committee and Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, who announced the ratification of Oyebanji’s candidacy, said, “The exercise complied with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.”