Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji and the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in the June 2026 election, Dr Wole Oluyede, on Tuesday jointly rallied support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election, declaring that the All Progressives Congress and the PDP in the state were going into the 2027 presidential contest as a united family with a resolve to deliver a minimum of 90 per cent of the votes to the President.
The rally, held in Ado Ekiti, was organised by the Oluyede Progressive Alliance for Renewed Hope Agenda, the political movement convened by Oluyede to mobilise support for Tinubu across the state’s 16 local government areas and 177 wards. It marked the formal end of the political rivalry that followed the June 20 governorship election, in which Oyebanji of the APC defeated Oluyede of the PDP, and it was described by organisers as a demonstration that political differences should not be allowed to undermine the collective interest of Ekiti people.
Oyebanji said no past Nigerian President, dead or living, had positively impacted Ekiti State like Tinubu had done since 2023, and urged voters to deliver a minimum of 900,000 votes for the President in January. “What is happening today speaks to the aspiration of the founding fathers of Ekiti,” he said. “When they were struggling for state creation, our founding fathers desired an Ekiti where all of us would be one.” He praised Oluyede for putting aside political differences and rallying others to support Tinubu, saying, “Any leader that loves his people will not mind to sacrifice; he will not mind to go through pains, and that is what is happening today.” He added, “Asiwaju’s visit is existential for us as a state. In our 30 years of existence as a state, there has been no President living or dead that has been so good to Ekiti people as President Tinubu.” Oyebanji urged Ekiti residents to vote for Tinubu in January, saying, “Let us vote for Asiwaju to say thank you in Ekiti. I can assure you that Asiwaju is not an ingrate; once we do our own part, I can assure you he will do his own part.” He noted that Oluyede had discussed with the President and made promises, and said, “We are going to the election as one party, as one united family.”
Oluyede, who has been mobilising support for Tinubu through OPARHA since August, said his supporters in the PDP would embark on door-to-door mobilisation across the state. “I want to thank the members of the PDP in Ekiti State who have agreed with me that we are going to support Tinubu and we are going to stand by him,” he said. “I have spoken with President Tinubu and he has promised that he would stand by you — this means the development of Ekiti is reassured.” He pledged to deliver 90 per cent of the votes cast in the state for the President, saying, “We are going to win this election with 90 per cent. We are going to work hard to make sure that we deliver 90 per cent for him.” He also appealed to Tinubu to reciprocate the support by continuing to prioritise the development of Ekiti State.
The rally was the culmination of a political reconciliation that began shortly after the June 20 governorship election, in which Oyebanji was declared the winner with 319,224 votes, sweeping all 16 local government areas. Oluyede initially filed a petition at the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal challenging the outcome, alleging irregularities. In early September, he withdrew the petition, disclosing that President Tinubu had personally intervened alongside members of his family and political associates. “I withdrew the petition at the tribunal and it was struck out today,” Oluyede said at the time. “I withdrew it based on the intervention of my family, my brother, the progressive caucus and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” He maintained that the withdrawal did not amount to an endorsement of the conduct of the election, insisting that the poll was fraught with irregularities, but said he decided to put the contest behind him because politics should not override the wider interest of the people. He also confirmed that Tinubu had personally asked him to support his re-election in 2027, a request he said he had accepted without negotiating for any political appointment or other benefit. “Let me assure you that though the President invited me, we discussed and he asked me to support his re-election and we didn’t discuss anything about what he wants to offer me, but I am supporting him based on Ekiti interest and I am too expensive to buy,” Oluyede said.
Oluyede’s support for Tinubu has been built through OPARHA, which he unveiled in August and has since expanded into a coalition involving the PDP, the Accord Party, the Action Democratic Party, the Young Progressives Party, the Action Alliance and other political groups. At the inaugural meeting of OPARHA in Ado Ekiti, Oluyede said the alliance was being formed in the interest of the country and not for financial gains, and confirmed that President Tinubu had appealed to him to put the disagreements arising from the Ekiti governorship election behind him and work with his administration. He stressed that the President did not ask him to leave the PDP, saying, “My support for President Tinubu will not diminish my commitment to the PDP. I remain a loyal member of my party.” He also declared an end to his political differences with Oyebanji, saying, “The war is over. Governor Biodun Oyebanji and I will now work together for President Tinubu’s re-election.”
The rally comes amid a broader pattern of political realignment in Ekiti State ahead of the 2027 general elections. Former Governor Ayodele Fayose, a senior PDP figure, had earlier rallied support for Tinubu alongside Oyebanji in Ikere-Ekiti, underscoring what analysts describe as a growing cross-party consensus in the state behind the President’s re-election bid. The APC has also been consolidating its structures, with Oyebanji targeting a significantly higher vote tally than the approximately 300,000 votes the state delivered in previous presidential elections. The President’s re-election campaign has attracted endorsements from several quarters, including the Nigeria Forward movement, the forum of former presiding officers of state Houses of Assembly, and various youth and support groups across the country.
The 2027 presidential election is scheduled for January 16, with the governorship and state assembly elections following on February 6. President Tinubu is seeking a second term on the APC platform, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement are among the major challengers. Ekiti State, with its relatively small but politically significant voting population, will be one of the states where the ruling party hopes to demonstrate overwhelming support as it seeks to secure a decisive national mandate.
For Oyebanji, the rally represents an opportunity to consolidate his political base and deliver a strong performance for the President in his home state. For Oluyede, it is a calculated political investment in a President who intervened to end his legal challenge and who he believes will support Ekiti’s development in return. For the people of Ekiti State, the coming months will determine whether the promised dividends of the alliance — roads, infrastructure and federal presence — materialise, and whether the cross-party mobilisation translates into the overwhelming vote tally the two leaders have pledged. As Oyebanji put it, “We are going to the election as one party, as one united family.”
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