The All Progressives Congress on Sunday described Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s landslide victory in the Ekiti governorship election as a national endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the result demonstrated that Nigerians were rewarding governments that delivered development and good governance.
APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje congratulated Oyebanji, describing his second-term mandate as a reflection of the confidence Ekiti voters placed in a government they could see and feel working for them. Several APC governors and national figures also praised the result, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio calling it a proof that the party’s machinery at the state level remained strong and functional.
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However, the PDP and ADC rejected the characterisation of the vote as a free expression of popular will. PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba said the party was reviewing the reports of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and logistical irregularities documented by observers and would take appropriate legal steps if the evidence warranted a petition. ADC candidate Dare Bejide, whose driver was assaulted on election day, said his party was gathering evidence of misconduct and consulting its legal team.
Political analyst Udenta Udenta, who had earlier predicted that Tinubu would perform worse in 2027 than 2023, said the Ekiti result should be interpreted carefully, noting that a heavily incumbent-advantaged election in a state where the APC has dominated for years was not a reliable national bellwether. He said the real test of the APC’s electoral health would come in more competitive states closer to 2027.
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Furthermore, attention has already shifted toward the Osun State governorship election scheduled for August 15, 2026, where incumbent PDP Governor Ademola Adeleke is defending his seat against an APC challenge. Notably, Adeleke’s Accord Party platform was temporarily threatened by the ADC deregistration ruling before the Court of Appeal intervened. Consequently, the Ekiti win injects fresh momentum into the APC’s 2027 preparations even as opposition parties vow to contest both the result and the broader democratic environment in which it was produced.
