Workers Strike Grounds Governance in Ekiti as Election Begins

A workers strike grounded governance across Ekiti State on Monday, June 15, 2026, shutting government offices and disrupting public services just four days before the June 20 governorship election, adding a fresh layer of pressure to Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s campaign for a second term.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in Ekiti called the strike over unresolved demands relating to unpaid salary arrears and other welfare grievances. Workers across state government ministries, departments, and agencies locked down their offices and staged street demonstrations in Ado-Ekiti, sending a clear signal of discontent ahead of an election the ruling APC had been projecting as a straightforward victory.

A spokesperson for the Ekiti Labour Congress said workers had made multiple attempts to resolve the outstanding grievances through dialogue but received no satisfactory response from the state government. ‘We are not against anyone running for office, but we cannot continue to suffer in silence,’ the spokesperson said, adding that the strike would continue until the government addressed the workers’ demands.

APC Frames Strike as Politically Motivated

The APC in Ekiti described the strike as politically motivated, alleging that opposition forces were behind the timing of the action and were using it to embarrass the governor on the eve of the election. The party said Governor Oyebanji had a strong record of salary payment and worker welfare during his first term and called on workers to return to duty.

However, Labour officials rejected the APC’s characterisation, saying the strike had been planned for weeks based on documented grievances and had nothing to do with opposition interference. The PDP governorship candidate Oluwole Oluyede expressed solidarity with the striking workers and said their action reflected the true state of governance under the Oyebanji administration.

Meanwhile, INEC confirmed that all preparations for the June 20 election remained fully on track, saying the strike would not affect the commission’s own operations. Security agencies also confirmed that election day deployment arrangements were complete and unaffected. Furthermore, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan demanded the release of detained PDP members in Ekiti, alleging that party supporters had been arrested ahead of the election in what she described as an attempt to suppress opposition activity. Notably, INEC had accredited 675 journalists and 98 observer groups for the Ekiti poll, signalling high levels of national and international scrutiny. Consequently, the combination of a workers strike, opposition arrests allegations, and voter inducement complaints has complicated the pre-election environment in the state considerably in the final days before the vote.

INEC Completes Final Accreditation

In addition, INEC confirmed the completion of its final round of party agent accreditation across all polling units in the state, with all 12 contesting parties having submitted their agent lists for verification. The commission said election day materials had been distributed to all 16 local government areas and would be moved to polling units early on the morning of June 20. As a result, the logistical machinery for what is expected to be a closely watched election is in place even as the political environment in the state grows more turbulent.