Former Senate President David Mark and ex-Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola have thrown their weight firmly behind the African Democratic Congress ahead of the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, June 20, publicly denouncing the ruling All Progressives Congress and calling on residents of the state to vote for the ADC’s candidate, Ambassador Dare Bejide. 

The two senior political figures made their positions known at the ADC’s final campaign rally in Ado-Ekiti, where Bejide was formally presented with the party’s flag in a show of solidarity and readiness ahead of the poll.

Aregbesola, a former APC chieftain and one-time close political ally of President Bola Tinubu, launched a stinging attack on the ruling party, declaring that the APC’s governance record falls far short of acceptable standards. In a characteristically blunt manner, he told the crowd that while the APC’s political game-playing may earn full marks, its actual governance performance deserves a failing grade.

He also pointedly dismissed the pro-Tinubu second-term campaign song that a supporter attempted to sing at the rally, calling the anthem outdated and irrelevant to the challenges facing the people of Ekiti. Aregbesola went further to express confidence that a free and fair election would produce an ADC victory on Saturday.

Mark, who currently serves as National Chairman of the ADC, was also prominent at the event alongside the party’s National Women’s Leader, Naomi Abel. His presence at the Ekiti campaign underscored the growing weight that the ADC is seeking to project as a credible opposition platform ahead of both the gubernatorial contest and the broader 2027 general election cycle. The ADC has faced significant internal turbulence in recent months, including a period during which INEC temporarily removed both Mark and Aregbesola from its portal following Appeal Court orders, before the Supreme Court intervened and secured their reinstatement.

Bejide, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, addressed the rally with combative confidence, likening the ADC’s electoral machinery to a bulldozer capable of overpowering its opponents. He pledged that an ADC government in Ekiti would ensure that residents do not suffer from a lack of basic amenities, positioning the party as a genuine alternative for voters dissatisfied with both the APC and the PDP. The ADC has campaigned heavily on themes of security, youth empowerment, agriculture, and economic development, conducting door-to-door outreach across the state’s 177 wards.

The governorship contest is set against a backdrop of widespread analysis suggesting that incumbent Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the APC enters Saturday’s poll as a strong favourite, bolstered by an unusual coalition of cross-party endorsements, a relatively united party structure, and a track record of infrastructure delivery under his Shared Prosperity Agenda. The PDP’s candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, has also mounted a significant challenge, though his campaign has been hampered by prolonged internal party disputes.

Over one million registered voters across Ekiti’s 16 local government areas will cast their ballots on Saturday in what is being closely watched as a bellwether for political dynamics ahead of the 2027 national elections.