Ekiti Raked In N88.4bn From IGR In 4 Years, Says Oyebanji

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has disclosed that the state has generated a cumulative sum of N88.4 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) over the last four years.

The Governor also identified trade and agriculture as two major economic drivers of the state, stating that Ekiti GDP is nearing the N8.8 trillion mark.

Governor Oyebanji made the disclosures on Tuesday at the state of Assembly Complex, Ado-Ekiti while delivering his state of the state address to mark the occasion of the 4th anniversary celebration of his administration and end of first term in office.

He said the government has been very deliberate and faithful in the implementation of the six pillars and agenda of the administration since its inception.

“The policies, programmes, strategies and capital expenditure of the government have been implemented under the pillars. Governance, Youth Development and Job Creation, Human Capital Development, Agriculture and Rural Development, Infrastructure and Industrialisation and Arts, Culture, and Tourism”.

While noting that, due to a lot of innovative ideas, administrative autonomy and strategies that were adopted, the monthly internally generated revenue of the State has seen a significant upward improvement.

“When we took over in 2022, the average Internally Generated Revenue of the State hovered around N650 million to N700 million monthly, totaling N8.7b in 2022, by the end of 2023, it had surged to N12 billion. The trend continued in 2024 with a reconciled figure of N17.6 billion, 2025, we grossed 27.1 billion. As at the last reconciliation in June this year, we have already attained N15.6 billion, with all indications that we will near the N32 billion mark at the end of the year, as we currently average N2.6 billion per month.

“The growth per year indicated 38 per cent in 2023, 47 per cent in 2024, 53 per cent in 2025 and about 60 per cent in 2026. The independent data from the Joint Revenue Board confirmed that 2025 was an exceptional year for Ekiti State’s revenue administration”.

The governor said that the state’s economy continues to hold exciting promise in all its ramifications.

“A quick summary of Ekiti’s GDP performance from the recently released NBS Report indicates that the overall State GDP moved from 2.4 trillion in 2019 to 4.6 trillion in 2023, a growth of 90 per cent. Recent projections suggest that Ekiti’s GDP is now inching towards the N8.8 trillion mark.

“Apparently, our economy is largely driven by trade, which contributed 1.7 trillion (37%) and agriculture, which contributed 1.05 trillion (23%). Both sectors contribute 60% to the state’s economy. It is for this reason that we have intentionally given more attention to trade, investment and agriculture since they have proved to be areas of our comparative advantage. With our deliberate investment in aviation and tourism, we hope to further diversify our economic base in the new tenure”.

He said another sector receiving the Government’s attention is the Knowledge Economy, which he said holds the key to the economy of the future. “Already we have secured an $80 million funding from the African Development Bank in support of our vision for the Ekiti Knowledge Zone. I am glad to inform this Honourable House that construction works have commenced at the Zone”.

Oyebanji said over N36. 6billion has been paid as pension to 10, 098 from October 2022 to August 2026, and a total of N11.7 billion has been paid as gratuity to 3, 642 beneficiaries since he assumed office in 2022, while at least an average of N200m monthly is being set aside for the purpose of gratuity liquidation.

“Similarly, we have paid the sum of N35.7 billion as monthly pension to about 11, 524 LG retirees, while the total sum of N7.78 billion has been paid as gratuity to 2, 659 Local Government retirees as at October last year”.

In the area of human capital development, Oyebanji said the state government has always given priority attention to education development.

“In order to sustain a quality learning environment in our primary schools, we have paid the sum of N8.211 billion, so far, to the Universal Basic Education Commission”.

The health and human services sector of the state, the Governor said, had recorded remarkable success and progress, adding that the Ulerawa health initiative has provided services to 932, 311 beneficiaries free of charge.

“Presently, about 5,000 youths are engaged in agriculture, which are divided into 4,765 youths in crop production under the Bring Back our Youths to Agriculture (BBYA), 126 youths under the Ekiti State Broilers Production Scheme (EBOPS) where about 200,000 birds have been raised from the DOC to the table size since inception in 2023”.

He said his government remains committed to the social contract with the Ekiti people, and they are in a hurry to ensure the earlier realisation of the dream of rapid economic prosperity for all Ekiti people.

“As we enter the second term season, our focus will be leveraging the investment in infrastructure to jump-start Ekiti into industrial productivity and economic prosperity. We believe social amenities and good infrastructure must be connected to economic activities for our people to move out of poverty.

“We will, therefore, be pushing harder in the actualisation of our dreams in the two key economic domains that we want to leverage: agricultural industrialisation and knowledge-based economy through the State Agric Processing Zone and the Ekiti Knowledge Zone,” he said.