Politics
How Oluyede’s Support for Tinubu, Oyebanji Vindicates Fayose Ahead of 2027
By Emmanuel Adeniran
In Ekiti politics, time has a way of settling scores. What was once called betrayal is now called strategy. What was once condemned as anti-party activity is now celebrated as statesmanship.
For months, former Governor Ayodele Fayose was vilified in his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for openly endorsing Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for a second term and declaring support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.
Fayose was blunt about his reasons. In interviews between October 2024 and March 2025, he said opposition politicians seeking to unseat Tinubu and Oyebanji were merely “chasing shadows.” He described Oyebanji as “a humble governor” who had visited him in Lagos thirteen times and argued: “We supported Asiwaju in the last presidential election because he is a Yoruba man, and it’s time for our presidency.”
The loudest critic of that position was Dr. Wole Oluyede.
On January 18, 2026, at his country home in Ikere-Ekiti, during a media parley ahead of the June 20, 2026 governorship election, Oluyede faulted Fayose for endorsing Oyebanji. He insisted the governor’s performance did not merit such support and said governance should be assessed by security, infrastructure and public service delivery.
“I respect Fayose and his right to support whoever he wants. We have no personal issues. But if you ask me, he has made the wrong choice in supporting this government,” Oluyede said.
He positioned himself as the guardian of PDP orthodoxy. When the Ekiti PDP State Executive expelled Fayose in November 2025, Oluyede declared: “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” accusing Fayose of trying to destroy the party structure being built to win the 2026 election and of sustained anti-party activities.
“If you have been a leader for eight years and people depend on you, you shouldn’t sell them short… Nobody builds a house and then brings a bulldozer to destroy it,” he said.
Oluyede’s own political trajectory had been winding. He dumped the APC after failing to secure its ticket in January 2022, joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and became its candidate, then defected to the PDP in late 2025. He had accused the APC of conducting the worst primaries ever.
The June 20, 2026 election ended in turmoil. After a legal battle that saw his name excluded from INEC’s list due to the PDP’s national leadership crisis and later restored by court order, Oluyede lost woefully — including in his own polling unit in Ikere-Ekiti by a narrow margin — and was swept in all 16 local government areas. He rejected the result and filed a petition at the tribunal.
The Conversion
On Wednesday, September 24, 2026, at the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Oluyede formally withdrew the petition. The three-member panel chaired by Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi struck it out after his counsel, Mr. Ola Olanipekun, SAN, moved the motion for withdrawal.
His reason was stunningly familiar.
“I withdrew the petition at the tribunal and it was struck out today… I withdrew it based on the intervention of my family, my brother, the progressive caucus and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Oluyede said during a live television interview that evening.
The same Tinubu he had criticised Fayose for romancing.
Oluyede went further, confessing that his relationship with Tinubu predated the current dispensation, recalling his previous membership of the APC and his role as one of the financiers of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA) ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
He disclosed that President Tinubu had personally asked him to support his 2027 re-election bid and that he had accepted without negotiating any appointment.
“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,” he declared.
To seal the new alliance, on September 25, 2026, Oluyede announced in Ado-Ekiti the formation of a new political vehicle — the Oluyede Progressive Alliance for Renewed Hope Agenda (OPARHA) — a coalition of opposition parties including the PDP, Accord, ADP, YPP and Action Alliance, to mobilise for Tinubu’s re-election.
“The war is over. Governor Biodun Oyebanji and I will now work together for President Tinubu’s re-election,” he said, vowing to work with Oyebanji and other stakeholders to deliver more than 90 per cent of Ekiti votes for the President.
He cited improvements under Tinubu — an end to fuel scarcity and GDP growth as buttressed by the World Bank’s August 2026 report — as justification. He insisted his support would not diminish his commitment to the PDP and should not be misconstrued as defection.
It was Fayose’s script, word for word.
The Vindication and the Irony
For Fayose, this is sweet vindication. When Fayose said, “When a leader is doing well, it is only fair to acknowledge it regardless of political differences,” he was called a saboteur. PDP stakeholders accused him of trying to invade the APC and destroy the PDP from within.
Today, the hunter has become the hunted. The allegation Oluyede once levelled against Fayose — that he had weakened the PDP over three years through open support for Oyebanji and Tinubu — is now being levelled against Oluyede himself by his own party faithful.
Oluyede’s defence is identical to Fayose’s old defence: national interest over party label. Fayose had argued in 2023: “When it is time for election, we will confront him. I am a landmark governor in Ekiti State.” Oluyede now argues: “My support for President Tinubu will not diminish my commitment to the PDP. I remain a loyal member of my party… This is not about money but about the progress of the country… life goes beyond politics.”
Political analysts point to three forces behind the pivot: the trauma of the 2026 defeat, with Oluyede himself saying, “After the election, I went to Abuja with anger because I was humiliated… they only showed me the might of their power”; the structure dilemma, with the national PDP in tatters and Ekiti PDP leaders practically adopting Tinubu for 2027; and the vacuum left by Fayose’s expulsion, which Oluyede is now filling.
What Next for Ekiti PDP?
Oluyede’s move leaves the Ekiti PDP in a familiar place — leaderless and stripped of its moral high ground. The party that suspended Fayose in words and ostracised him in action now has its last governorship candidate campaigning for the same Tinubu and Oyebanji ticket.
In effect, Oluyede has done two things: he has normalised cross-party endorsement in the Ekiti PDP — what was once called anti-party is now branded “across party lines” — and he has cleared Fayose historically. If the party accepts Oluyede’s dual loyalty — PDP membership with APC presidential campaign — it can no longer sustain the moral prosecution of Fayose.
It raises the question Fayose long posed: Is there still a PDP in Ekiti, or just a collection of individuals waiting for a phone call from the Villa?
At last, Oluyede’s romance with the APC, Oyebanji and Tinubu has done what no press statement could do. It has vindicated Fayose. The man they called a traitor was simply ahead of his time.
