The governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State have resolved not to challenge the re-election of Governor Biodun Oyebanji at the Election Petition Tribunal following the June 20 governorship poll.
The decision came as the constitutional 21-day window for filing election petitions expired on Monday. According to the nation’s electoral laws, aggrieved candidates are required to file petitions within 21 days from the date election results are declared.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on June 21 declared Governor Oyebanji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the election after polling 319,224 votes. His closest rival, Dr. Wole Oluyede of the PDP, secured 40,543 votes, while the ADC candidate, Dare Bejide, garnered 12,872 votes to place third in the contest, which featured 13 political parties.
In the aftermath of the election, Governor Oyebanji paid separate visits to both Oluyede and Bejide at their residences, where he appealed for their support and cooperation in the interest of the state’s development and progress.
Findings by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the ADC leadership, at a meeting of its State Executive Council, resolved against pursuing legal action and instead directed members to begin preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Confirming the decision on Monday, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Gboyega Aribisogan, said litigation would not serve the overall interest of the party, its supporters, or the people of Ekiti State.
According to him, although the party may have reservations about certain aspects of the electoral process, it had chosen “the path of constructive engagement over protracted litigation”.
He disclosed that the State Executive Council had directed all party organs to immediately shift attention to reconciliation, grassroots mobilisation and strengthening of the party’s structures across the 177 wards in the state.
Aribisogan added that the party had approved the constitution of a State Repositioning and Restructuring Committee to draw up a roadmap for grassroots reactivation, candidate identification, training of party agents and overall preparations for the 2027 elections.
Similarly, the PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, has also decided against challenging the outcome of the election in court, despite his earlier criticism of the conduct of the poll.
Even though he is yet to publicly disclose this, highly placed sources within the PDP told the Nigerian Tribune on Monday that the decision followed extensive consultations and a careful assessment of the legal prospects of the case.
According to one of the sources, the decision was taken not because the party had abandoned its concerns over alleged irregularities during the election, but because it considered it impracticable to successfully prosecute the matter at the tribunal.
“We reviewed the entire process with the candidate as recently as this weekend, fully aware that Monday was the deadline for filing a petition. After careful consideration, we resolved not to approach the tribunal.
“For us to challenge the outcome, we must be realistic. It would be extremely difficult to assemble sufficient admissible evidence to substantiate the alleged irregularities.
“Consequently, both the party and its candidate have resolved not to institute any legal action over the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State,” the source said.
