The Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State, Michael Okunlade, has confirmed that the party’s candidate, Islamiyat Abdulkadir, will be on the ballot for Saturday’s Ibadan North Federal Constituency bye-election.
Okunlade made this known in a statement issued on Thursday in Ibadan, the state capital. He announced that a court ruling earlier that day ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include the SDP’s candidates in the bye-elections across 12 federal constituencies nationwide.
The PUNCH reported that five other candidates had signed a peace accord on Wednesday at INEC’s Oyo State headquarters. These include Femi Akin-Alamu (African Democratic Congress), Adewale Olatunji (All Progressives Congress), Olabisi Odususi (All Progressives Grand Alliance), Fola Oyekunle (Peoples Democratic Party), and Hammed Badmus (Zenith Labour Party).
Despite not being listed initially by INEC, Okunlade emphasized that the SDP had remained active, conducting robust grassroots campaigns across the constituency.
“I’m glad to inform you that the court ruled in our favor this morning, ordering INEC to accept and publish our candidates for the bye-elections,” he said. “This setback hasn’t deterred us. Our campaign has been strong from the start, and we are confident of victory.”
The bye-election was necessitated by the death of Hon. Musiliudeen Akinremi, the two-term representative of the constituency, who passed away in July 2024 after a brief illness in Abuja.