Peoples Democratic Party chieftain and former Ekiti governorship candidate, Dr Wole Oluyede, has reaffirmed his intention to work with Governor Biodun Oyebanji and other stakeholders towards President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign in Ekiti State.
Oluyede, who contested the June 20, 2026 governorship election on the PDP platform, made the commitment during a series of engagements with Oyebanji following the election.
The development marks a political realignment between two figures who were on opposing sides of the Ekiti governorship contest.
Oyebanji, the All Progressives Congress candidate, was declared winner after polling 319,224 votes across the state’s 16 local government areas, while Oluyede scored 40,543 votes.
Oluyede subsequently withdrew his petition challenging Oyebanji’s victory in September. The Election Petition Tribunal struck out the case after his counsel moved the application for withdrawal.
Oluyede said his decision followed appeals from people he described as important to him, including President Tinubu, and said he remained a PDP member.
In an August 20 meeting with Oyebanji in Lagos, Oluyede said political differences should not prevent Ekiti leaders from cooperating for the state’s development.
“Political differences should not destroy the bonds that unite us as Ekiti people,” he said, stressing that the engagement was also about reciprocity and the shared responsibility of Ekiti leaders.
The former PDP candidate also announced a grassroots mobilisation plan through the Oluyede Progressive Alliance for Renewed Hope Agenda, OPARHA, covering Ekiti’s 16 local government areas and 177 wards.
Oluyede said the group would work towards securing 90 per cent support for Tinubu in the state in 2027.
“We are going to the people. We are going to mobilise. OPARHA will take the message to every door, every household, every ward and every community,” he said.
Oyebanji has also maintained an open line of engagement with his former challenger.
After the June election, the governor extended what he described as a “hand of fellowship” to his opponents and later visited Oluyede at his Ikere-Ekiti home.
The post-election relationship has gained added significance following Oluyede’s withdrawal of his tribunal case and his subsequent public commitment to support Tinubu in 2027.
Oluyede has said the cooperation does not amount to abandoning the PDP, describing his decision instead as a political effort to put what he considers the interests of Ekiti and Nigeria above party differences.
The partnership is also taking shape against the background of Oyebanji’s re-election. The governor won all 16 local government areas in the June poll, becoming the first incumbent governor in Ekiti to secure consecutive re-election since the state was created in 1996.
For now, Oluyede and Oyebanji are publicly presenting their engagement around cooperation, development and political mobilisation ahead of 2027, while Oluyede continues to identify himself as a member of the opposition PDP.
