A new cross-party mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign has emerged in Ekiti State as former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Oluwole Oluyede sets a 90 per cent vote target for the President.
Oluyede made the declaration on Tuesday during the OPARHA Renewed Hope Mega Walk 2026 in Ado-Ekiti, where supporters marched from Ajilosun to Fajuyi Park. The event brought together members of different political tendencies and was attended by Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji and other political figures.
The mobilisation marks a notable political shift because Oluyede contested the June 20, 2026 governorship election against Oyebanji on the PDP platform. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oyebanji the winner with 319,224 votes, while Oluyede polled 40,543 votes.
Speaking to supporters at Fajuyi Park, Oluyede said the group would take its campaign beyond the Ado-Ekiti rally and establish a grassroots structure across the state.
“We are going to win this election with 90 per cent. We are going to work hard to make sure that we deliver 90 per cent for him,” he said.
He said OPARHA members would visit communities across Ekiti’s 16 local government areas and 177 wards to canvass support for Tinubu.
Oluyede presented the mobilisation as an attempt to bring politicians from different tendencies together while strengthening Ekiti’s relationship with the Federal Government. He also called for continued federal attention to the state, linking the support being assembled for Tinubu with development needs in Ekiti.
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Governor Oyebanji welcomed the cooperation between political groups, saying partisan differences should not prevent residents from pursuing common interests.
He also pointed to federal infrastructure projects as part of the reason for his support for the President’s re-election.
The Ekiti State Government has confirmed that Tinubu approved the inclusion of the Itawure-Aramoko-Ado-Ekiti and Aramoko-Ijero-Ifaki roads in the 2026 Federal Government budget.
In July, the state government also announced presidential approval for reconstruction of the Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole road through the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Infrastructure Project Fund. The road connects several parts of Ekiti and provides access to institutions and economic facilities, including the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport and Ekiti Knowledge Zone.
Oyebanji has also cited the Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki road and other federal interventions while seeking increased support for Tinubu.
At Tuesday’s gathering, the governor described Oluyede’s decision to support the President as evidence that politicians from different parties could work together despite their electoral differences.
The development came shortly after Oyebanji secured a second term in the June governorship election. His victory made him the first governor in Ekiti’s history to win two consecutive terms, according to the state government.
Oluyede’s new campaign group now intends to translate the Ado-Ekiti rally into sustained ward-level mobilisation ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The 90 per cent target announced at the rally is a political objective set by OPARHA, rather than an established electoral outcome. Whether the group can translate its stated grassroots strategy into votes will only be determined when the 2027 election is held.
For now, the significance of the development lies in the political realignment it represents. That is, a former PDP governorship candidate is publicly campaigning for a president seeking another term, while the APC governor he contested against is backing the same mobilisation in a state where federal infrastructure has become part of the political conversation.
