Claim
A recent post online claims that one of the governorship aspirants, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has endorsed the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the incumbent, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, for a second term ahead of Saturday’s governor’s poll.
The claim reads: “The leadership and members of Social Democratic Party, SDP) Ekiti State Chapter has endorsed the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as their sole flagbearer for the June 20 governorship election come Saturday”.
Full text
The leadership and members of Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ekiti State Chapter has endorsed the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as their sole flagbearer for the June 20 governorship election come Saturday.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday at a press briefing, the SDP Chairman in Ekiti State, Hon. Ayodele Bamikole described the step as a right decision not taken in a hasty situation.
His words: “Our endorsement of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji and his Deputy was not a hasty decision.
“It was after an extensive consultation and deliberation with relevant stakeholders in the state, now in clear, having assessed all candidates running for the guber seat, we have no doubt to openly declare as follows: That on behalf of all members of SDP in the state. I formally enthusiastically endorse His Excellency the Executive Governor of Ekiti, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji and Mrs. Monisade Afuye in their bid to seek re-election for the second term in office as Governor and Deputy”.
He described Governor Boidun Oyebannji as an exceptional and transparent leader whose tenure had brought unprecedented change to the state.
“The Governor has demonstrated exceptional leadership, transparency in his tenure as Governor and has brought transformative and developmental projects to the State that are directly benefiting the state.
“Continuity is very crucial to ensure that the ongoing developmental stride reaches their full potential. As a party, we openly declare to support our Omoluabi Governor with 25,000 votes this Saturday the 20th of June, 2026. Once again, Mr. Governor, congratulation in advance.”
According to him, it’s a day to remember in Ekiti State.
The long statement is contained here.
Verification
Due to the circulation of the news and the confusion that it could bring on election day, we decided to fact-check the information.
First, we found that the political party in question, SDP, is not in the list of parties approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to run in the process.
Images containing the list of political parties obtained from INEC’s website does not contain SDP.
However, the claim that the party is endorsing the Governorship candidate of the APC first originated directly from a live press conference held in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, June 18, 2026, by the local SDP faction chairman, Ayodele Bamikole, before it began spreading online.
Also, we found that the claim had routinely resurfaced several times on Facebook, the latest sets of publication surfaced on June 17, 2026, and it was published by a blogger, Akinwunmi James Olamide and Babatola Tunde Ashavine.
Furthermore, we found that the SDP has two factions, with one faction aligning with the incumbent governor.
This faction has been completely rejected by the party’s leadership.
While a group of local SDP politicians did hold a press conference endorsing APC Governor Biodun Oyebanji, the national leadership of the SDP and its official candidate have explicitly disowned the endorsement and claimed they remained in the race.
Verdict
The claim that “Ekiti SDP” endorsed Oyebanji is an oversimplification. In reality, unauthorised local actors broke ranks to support the APC, but the official Social Democratic Party is still actively running against Oyebanji in the Saturday poll.
