Ekiti Election: Final 8 Days as APC and PDP Clash Over Voter Inducement

The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party traded fresh accusations of voter inducement and electoral misconduct on Thursday, June 11, 2026, as the June 20 Ekiti governorship election entered its final eight-day stretch and all political campaigns shifted into their highest gear.

PDP governorship candidate Oluwole Oluyede filed a formal complaint with INEC alleging that APC agents had been caught distributing cash to voters in Ado-Ekiti and three other local government areas, presenting what he described as photographic evidence of the payments. The APC denied the allegations entirely, saying the PDP was fabricating a narrative of wrongdoing to pre-justify a loss it already anticipated.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner Samuel Hart urged all parties to submit formal complaints supported by evidence rather than engaging in a public mudslinging contest. He confirmed that the commission’s field operatives were monitoring campaign activities across all 16 local government areas and that any substantiated complaint would be referred to the relevant security agencies for investigation.

Shettima Solidifies Federal Campaign Presence

Vice President Kashim Shettima remained in Ekiti for a second consecutive day on Thursday, reinforcing the federal government’s support for Governor Oyebanji. His extended presence in the state alongside the commissioning of federal infrastructure projects has further blurred the line between governance and electioneering, prompting opposition complaints that the federal government was weaponising state resources on behalf of the APC candidate.

However, Oyebanji’s campaign team rejected the criticism, saying the Vice President’s visit was part of a pre-planned federal investment programme and that the timing of project commissionings was based on project completion schedules rather than electoral calendars. The Governor said he was proud to present voters with a record of concrete achievements and was confident they would return him for a second term.

Meanwhile, INEC confirmed that all security briefings and logistics arrangements for election day were completed, with officers assigned to all polling units across Ekiti’s 16 local government areas. The commission urged all 12 contesting parties to ensure their agents were accredited and fully briefed on election-day procedures. Furthermore, the Inspector-General of Police confirmed an additional layer of security deployment would be activated from the evening before the election through to the announcement of final results. Notably, an international observer team from the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission arrived in Ekiti on Thursday to assess the pre-election environment. Consequently, the June 20 vote is shaping up as the most closely monitored sub-national election in Nigeria in 2026.

Osun August Poll Campaign Builds

In addition, political preparations for the Osun governorship election on August 15 gained momentum this week as multiple parties confirmed their candidate selection processes. The APC in Osun said it had finalised its candidate screening and would announce its flagbearer by the end of June. As a result, the Southwest is entering a period of compressed and overlapping electoral activity that will absorb enormous political energy over the next two months.