By Obaloluwa Darasimi

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, Wole Oluyede, has given insight into what transpired during the election and why he withdrew from challenging the election outcome.

Oluyede earlier contested the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship election by heading to court because, according to him, the June 20 election did not meet the standard of a truly free, fair and credible election.
He has since discontinued the legal challenge.

Mixed reactions have trailed Oluyede’s decision to withdraw the legal challenge.
Setting the records straight, the PDP governorship candidate said, contrary to series insinuation in different quarters, he said he did not trade the election.

“I did not collect a kobo from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, the APC or anybody else in exchange for withdrawing my case.

“I did not sell my mandate.

“My integrity is not for sale. My decision to withdraw the petition followed extensive consultations and personal reflection. I consulted members of my family, political associates, members of my legal team and people whose advice I respect.

“I also considered the broader national interest. I had to ask myself whether prolonged litigation over the governorship election would ultimately serve the greater political and national objectives that I have supported for many years.

“After careful consideration, I chose statesmanship. That decision should not be interpreted as an admission that I considered the election perfect. Neither should it be seen as an acceptance that all the concerns raised by our campaign were unfounded.

“It was simply a decision to move forward,” Oluyede said.

Oluyede was of the view that there are moments in politics when personal ambition must be weighed against a larger national responsibility. For me, this was one of those moments.

Clarifying the circumstances surrounding the visit of Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji and the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, to his residence on Sunday, June 21, 2026, the day after the election, he disclosed that he received them as brothers, and the meeting was cordial.

“To the best of my recollection, our discussion had nothing to do with the conduct or the outcome of the election. Rather, we discussed our past relationship and the need for all of us, irrespective of our political differences, to work together in the interest of Ekiti State.

“I also used the opportunity to raise the plight of some of my supporters who had been detained during the election. The Governor promised to look into their situation, and I am grateful that he subsequently followed through on that commitment.

“We also discussed the need for us to explore ways of working together to make Ekiti better and move the State forward. That, to me, was the essence of the visit and our conversation.”

Why insisting that he had no personal problem with Governor Oyebanji, believes the governor deserved credit for the visit to his residence the day after the election, just as he believed he also deserved credit for receiving him with an open heart and treating him with the respect due to a brother, even though we had just contested against each other politically.

Saying, “That, to me, is how politics should be conducted. We may disagree politically and contest elections against one another, but that should not automatically make us enemies. Beyond politics, we are all Ekiti people, and we have a responsibility to work together for the progress and development of our State.”

Oluyede revealed that within minutes of the Ekiti governor’s visit, he started receiving telephone calls and visits from political leaders and members of the electorate, “demanding their share of a purported financial settlement from the governor.”

Oluyede said he was shocked to discover that rather than seeing the visit as an opportunity for reconciliation and a demonstration that political differences need not destroy personal relationships, some people chose to twist the narrative and portray the meeting as a financial settlement.

“I find this particularly unfortunate because one of the problems with our political culture in Ekiti is the tendency to reduce every political interaction to money. If a politician visits another politician, people immediately ask how much money changed hands. If two political opponents sit together, the first assumption is that there must have been a financial settlement.

“That is not the kind of political culture we should encourage.

“Political disagreements and electoral contests should not be allowed to destroy personal relationships. Politics should be about service, ideas and the future of our people, not a game in which every relationship is interpreted through the lens of money and every act of goodwill is turned into an opportunity for blackmail or character assassination. Ekiti deserves better than that,” Oluyede maintained.

He said that after careful consultations and reflection, he decided to move forward. “My withdrawal should not erase the lessons of the election. The results and the conduct of the election must be studied carefully as we prepare for 2027.

“We must learn from what happened, address the weaknesses exposed by the election and build a stronger, more credible electoral and grassroots mobilisation process, he concluded.

We were frustrated out of Osun APC–Ex-Aregbesola’s aide Ayedu

Sikiru Ayedun, a former aide to Rauf Aregbesola, the ex-governor of Osun State and currently the National Secretary of the African Democratic Party (ADC), has revealed the circumstances that led to the exit of the former governor,  the ex-governor’s aides and loyalists from the Osun All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ayedun, former Osun Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism in Osun , is currently the candidate of the ADC, Ife Federal Constituency, House of Representatives,  disclosed that it was not the intention of any of them to leave the party; rather, it was the party that frustrated them.

“We did not decamp to the ADC; the APC said they did not want us. Since we are political animals, we have legacies; we have ideas of how to run a state, and we have things to do for our people; we have to find a platform because Nigeria’s constitution today has not given room for the independent candidate.

” It was the APC in Osun that said they did not want us anymore– from Aregbe to all of us that were his followers, and we are still energetic just as you have said; we are purpose-driven, we are masses-driven, so we had to get a platform where we knew we could actualise our dreams and our goals,” Ayedun said

On the possibility of returning to the APC, Ayedun was philosophical in his response, saying it would be difficult.

“If differences that have not been sorted or settled since 2018 to date, what else? It has been almost eight years. If you know what we went through, you will pity many of us. You know, in every political setting, there are always caucuses. We had our own caucus, and they had their own caucus; they did not want any opposition outside their caucus; they treated us as if we were not an APC member.

“We were victimised. We were attacked by our party members then, just because we were in a different caucus,” the former Commissioner stated further.

He disclosed that the events that followed the governorship election, which ushered in the current Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, broke the camel’s back.

“They expelled all of us, and they did not want us in the party again. In my constituency, I was part of the stakeholders; they stopped me from attending the stakeholders’ meeting in January 2020; definitely, they didn’t want us; that was why we had to be on our own.”

He said efforts to find a truce to the disagreement were frustrated.

According to him, in December 2022, the Aregbesola caucus in the party agreed to suspend the activities of the group, opening the way for reconciliation; but the reconciliation never came.

He stated further that  despite several efforts, including writing to the national headquarters, all were rebuffed with no headway.

“We wrote to national headquarters, everywhere; our correspondence was never acknowledged; even when it was acknowledged, it was never worked on. Definitely, they didn’t want us anymore; we had to find a new approach, ” Ayeddun said.

A coalition of professionals under the aegis of Lagos Technocrats for Hamzat has endorsed Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, for the 2027 governorship election, describing him as the most competent candidate to drive the state’s next phase of development.
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The group announced its position on Tuesday during a press conference in Lagos.

It also unveiled a series of grassroots initiatives, including artificial intelligence training, teacher development, free healthcare outreaches, and youth empowerment schemes to support its vision of technology-driven governance.

Speaking at the event, the Convener of the group, Dr Mike Oladunjoye Egbayelo, stated that Lagos requires a leader whose track record extends beyond politics to core competence and measurable innovation.

​Egbayelo, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Excellerate Business School, noted that the coalition comprises professionals from engineering, healthcare, tech, public policy, and academia.

He revealed that the group will embark on statewide engagements with professional bodies, market leaders, artisans, and students to build support for Hamzat.

​The coalition has set a target to register 50,000 technocrats across Lagos via an online portal. Concurrently, it is launching an “Upskill 10,000″ initiative to train residents in AI, data analytics, solar panel installation, leather works, and garment making.

​”We believe governance should increasingly be driven by innovation, strategic planning, technology, transparency, and measurable outcomes. We also plan to train 1,000 teachers in modern pedagogy, organise free medical missions across the state’s three senatorial districts, and introduce a blindness prevention programme, ” Egbayelo said.

Co-convener Dr Timi Akano, Managing Director of New Horizons Ltd, added that Lagos has the potential to become Africa’s leading AI hub if deliberate investments are made in digital infrastructure.

​Addressing why technocrats—who traditionally stay out of politics—are getting involved, Akano pointed to shifting global economic realities and stricter international migration barriers.

He argued that building a technology-driven local economy is the most sustainable way to create opportunities for young Nigerians and reduce the pressure to emigrate (the Japa phenomenon).

​Egbayelo dismissed concerns about funding or potential fractionalisation along ethnic and religious lines, asserting that the coalition is self-funded through personal contributions and built strictly on professional values rather than political patronage.

​The endorsement comes as political consultations ahead of the 2027 Lagos governorship election gather momentum, with various stakeholder groups beginning to align behind key frontrunners.