By Adeyinka Adeniran
A total of 189 candidates representing 17 political parties will contest for federal legislative seats in Oyo State in the upcoming election, according to official candidate lists published by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Saturday.
The broad lineup features 38 candidates vying for the three Senatorial District slots, alongside 151 candidates competing across the 14 Federal House of Representatives constituencies in the state.
Corenews.ng observed from the list that, leading the pack, six political parties including: the All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP), fielded the maximum possible count of 17 candidates each for both the Senate and HoR seats.
The six parties established complete coverage across the entire state by nominating candidates for every available seat in all three Senatorial Districts and all 14 House of Representatives constituencies.
But, only nine political parties fielded candidates for all three senatorial seats in the state. These parties are Accord, ADP, ADC, APC, APM, LP, NDC, PDP, and SDP.
However, Accord Party (Accord) fielded 16 candidates overall, failing to present a candidate only in the Akinyele/Lagelu House of Representatives constituency.
The Labour Party (LP) fielded 14 candidates, skipping the Senate contest in Oyo Central and leaving out representation in Egbeda/Ona-Ara and Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) also recorded 14 candidates, missing out on Senate candidacy in Oyo Central and House entries in Saki East/Saki West/Atisbo as well as Irepo/Orelope/Olorunsogo.
The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) registered 12 candidates, opting not to field entries for the Oyo Central Senatorial seat or the House of Representatives seats in Ibarapa East/Ido, Saki East/Saki West/Atisbo, Irepo/Orelope/Olorunsogo, and Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere.
The Young Progressives Party (YPP) nominated 11 candidates, leaving the Senate race in Oyo Central unrepresented and omitting House candidates in Akinyele/Lagelu, Ibarapa Central/Ibarapa North, Ibarapa East/Ido, and Irepo/Orelope/Olorunsogo.
In a notable contrast, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) registered a total of 10 candidates.
While the party filled its entire slate for the three Senatorial districts, it did not field House of Representatives candidates in Akinyele/Lagelu, Egbeda/Ona-Ara, Saki East/Saki West/Atisbo, Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/Orire, Ibadan South West/Ibadan North West, and Ibadan North.
The remaining seats feature localized campaigns by smaller parties.
Action Alliance (AA) fielded five candidates, leaving out two Senate districts and ten House constituencies. The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) entered three candidates, appearing only in Oyo South for the Senate and in Ibarapa Central/Ibarapa North and Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East for the House.
Both the National Rescue Movement (NRM) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) put forward two candidates each, with the NRM running in Oyo South and Ibadan South West/Ibadan North West, while the NDP will contest in Oyo Central and Akinyele/Lagelu.
Also, the African Action Congress (AAC) entered the state contest with a single candidate running strictly in the Egbeda/Ona-Ara House of Representatives constituency.
