OYEBANJI: EKITI LOCKS DOWN FOR AN ENDORSEMENT LIKE NO OTHER.
BY ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
All roads lead to Ekiti Parapo Pavilion, Ado Ekiti on Monday, July 28, 2025 where a historic landmark will take place. It is a day the people of the state will speak with one voice on where they stand on their next political journey.
It is a day that has been chosen by an aggregation of eminent individuals, interest groups, bodies, party leaders and members, men and women on the streets to trumpet their unflinching support for Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.
The day has been designated as the day in which they are endorsing Governor Oyebanji as their preferred candidate for a fresh term of four years in office from October 16, 2026 to October 15, 2030.
The build-up has been both frenetic and electric as Ekiti people from various walks of life have been calling on the Governor to run for another term in office based on what they described as his superlative performance since coming to power on October 16, 2022.
In about three months back, the Governor's Office in Ado Ekiti has always been playing host to various interest groups that make up the core segment of the population of the State coming to declare their support for the re-election of Governor Oyebanji.
These included artisans, owners of micro, small and medium enterprises, artisans, health workers, sports men and women, market women, sellers of various commodities, motorcycle and tricycle riders, musicians, artistes and culture practitioners, youth bodies, students, women groups and and many other bodies too numerous to mention and you will agree with me that these bodies form a large chunk of the voting population.
Apart from coming to the seat of power to urge Governor Oyebanji to throw his hat into the ring once again to vie for the top job, these groups also held street processions, roadshows and other forms of razzmatazz in various neighborhoods in support of an Oyebanji candidacy for Ekiti 2026 poll.
We equally have some very influential bodies who had at various times declared their support for Governor Oyebanji on the strength of his exceptional and result-oriented leadership which they believe should continue beyond 2026. They believe that the Governor has managed the economy well and his policies have boosted the standard of living of the people of the Land of Honour.
Some influential groups include the State Council of Traditional rulers, the Oloris (wives of Obas), Traditional Chieftaincy Title Holders, Ekiti Council of Elders, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Egbe Afenifere, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Pensioners Association of Nigeria (PAN), just to mention a few.
Leaders and members of the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), were not left out in the Oyebanji endorsement festival as they had at various levels endorsed the Governor for continuity in office. They had performed this act at unit, ward, local government and senatorial district levels.
Before the endorsement of the party faithful at the various levels, the State Caucus of the APC which include former Governors elected on the platform of the party, the State Executive Committee, the State Working Committee, National Assembly members from the state, Ekiti State House of Assembly members, Ekiti State Executive Council (the state cabinet), Chairmen of Local Government and Local Council Development Areas, Party Chairmen in the Local Government Areas and other critical organs had endorsed the Governor at their expanded meeting held at the Iyin Ekiti country home of the first elected Governor of the State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo.
What makes Governor Oyebanji's endorsement unique and unprecedented in the political history of Ekiti State is the support he enjoys from all former elected Governors of Ekiti State cutting across the various political divides. This gesture, which has never happened in the history of the state, has further enlarged his support base.
All the former Governors including Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Chief Ayodele Fayose, Chief Segun Oni and Dr Kayode Fayemi, had used the first and second anniversaries of the Oyebanji Administration to declare their support for the incumbent who presides over a peaceful and prospering state and accords them respect, honour and dignity of being his predecessors.
Apart from the former Governors, key party leaders at the national level led by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele are all in support of Governor Oyebanji and they have been mobilizing their supporters to ensure that the dream of electing a Governor for a tenure of eight uninterrupted years is realized for the first time in the state.
The Oyebanji candidacy has further been buoyed by the support of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members who are loyal to former Governor Fayose under the aegis of the Osoko Political Family. It is remarkable that Governor Oyebanji appointed many of them into political positions in his avowed bid for an all-inclusive governance.
All these groundswell of support for Governor Oyebanji did not just come for the sake of it. They were borne out of his faithful and conscientious implementation of the six-pillar agenda that has given the people a new lease of life, boosted the capacity of the residents for meaningful contribution to the local economy, attracted more investment into the state, empowered local businessmen and contractors with his local content policy.
Construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads in virtually every part of the state including roads that lead to farmsteads have endeared the Governor to the people. The first and second anniversaries of his administration witnessed the commissioning of major road projects including new areas and township roads with more scheduled for inauguration during the third anniversary in October 2025.
It was during the first year of the Oyebanji Administration that some communities in Ekiti East, Ekiti West and Ayekire Local Government Area were liberated from power outage of over ten years due to the Governor's commitment in ensuring restoration of electricity to such communities through his bold step of assisting them with the needed infrastructure and connection with electricity regulatory bodies.
In pursuit of his Shared Prosperity agenda, Governor Oyebanji leveraged the collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and key financial institutions like the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and the development partners to boost small scale businesses with various incentives to add fillip to the economy in the grassroots.
Under the watch of Governor Oyebanji, Ekiti has become a very busy hub for agricultural activities with the coming on stream of the Special Agriculture Processing Zone and four farming clusters for Bring Back the Youths into Agriculture scheme with massive cultivation of various food and cash crops to boost food security.
Apart from the massive engagement of youths in these schemes, the Oyebanji Administration also attracted big-time investors into the agriculture sector like Agbeyewa Farms, YSJ Limited, among others making a large swathe of hitherto uncultivated land into a hub of production of crops and generating employment for the teeming youths.
Governor Oyebanji has managed the Ekiti economy well who h has seen the state witnessing zero borrowing since October 2022 and a reduction of domestic debt from N110.57 billion to N57 billion within one quarter. His leadership also witnessed a remarkable improvement in the Internally Generated Revenue which has been nationally acknowledged by the Joint Tax Board (JTB) as a model to other states.
The health sector has witnessed a massive turnaround with the massive overhaul and rehabilitation of nine General Hospitals and 200 health centers in rural across the state which have also been equipped with drugs and employment of more hands to bring quality healthcare delivery to the locals.
In the education sector, public primary and secondary schools have been rehabilitated for the convenience of pupils, students and teachers and to make them more attractive. The Governor has ensured the payment of counterpart funds to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which has given access for release of funds to build facilities and provide instructional materials.
Besides, more teachers were recruited to fill the vacancies occasioned by retirement, resignation and death and this has kept education in primary and secondary school running on the full throttle. Also, the impact of the Oyebanji Midas' touch has been felt in the tertiary education sub-sector with increment in subvention to all state-owned tertiary institutions.
The Ekiti workforce is another powerful bloc of support for Governor Oyebanji and the July 28 endorsement rally offers labour union leaders and opportunity to reiterate their support for the Governor. The Organized Labour in the state at various fora acknowledged the Oyebanji Administration as the most labour-friendly in the state.
Before the implementation of the new national minimum wage of N70,000 in the state, the Governor approved payment of wage bonus to workers which they had been enjoying before the implementation of the new minimum wage commenced in December 2024 which elicited joy among the civil servants and prompted them on an appreciative visit to the Governor shortly after receiving alerts.
Despite the commencement of the payment of the new minimum wage, the wage bonus did not stop and the workers also continued to enjoy free bus shuttle in the morning while going to work and in the afternoon after closing from work. Promotion, advancement, payment of car and housing loans have been a regular occurrence under the Oyebanji Administration.
The local content policy of Governor Oyebanji has empowered local businessmen, artisans and contractors as he ensures that they are regularly patronized by his administration to give them a sense of belonging, empower them, prevent a capital flight from the state and ensure that Ekiti wealth is retained and circulated locally.
Some examples suffice along this line. It is a known fact that Mr Governor's clothes are sewn by local tailors while his administration also awards contracts of government projects to competent local contractors. Ekiti auto dealers are patronized for the purchase of official vehicles for local government administrators and area education officers while local livestock and chicken sellers are patronized during festive periods.
The humanitarian gestures of Governor Oyebanji in which he offers support for the less privileged through his OJUSE BAO initiative and Abiyamo Esther Oyebanji Foundation alongside his siblings have given hope to the hopeless and succour to the needy across the state outside the bigger platform of the position of Governor that Providence has given him.
Through these humanitarian gestures, the homeless have been given new houses, victims of natural disasters were assisted, physically challenged were supported with financial lifelines and equipment that has assisted them to live better lives, scholarships given to indigent students, working tools and cash support were given to small scale traders while widows and aged persons were supported with food and cash.
These are the reasons why the Ekiti publics are demanding for Governor Oyebanji's continued stay in office because all these strides are unprecedented in the history of the state. He has returned power to the people, renders account to them from time to time and has brought himself down to the level of the people as their humble servant.
All what the Oyebanji Administration had achieved in the six-pillar agenda that have made the people of Ekiti State to make a decision to adopt him as their most preferred candidate for the governorship position in the 2026 poll with the endorsement rally being a grand stage for the clamour to be made known to the whole world.
Ekiti is witnessing a steady and remarkable growth under Governor Oyebanji and the people of the state are demanding for his retention in office beyond 2026. He is certainly a candidate to beat at the APC governorship primary later this year and the main governorship election after he might have won his party's ticket.
Ogunmola is the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media (Print Media).
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