The Ekiti State governor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, has said if by God’s grace he wins the June 2026 governorship election in the state, his administration will be the first government that will run back-to-back.
He said there has been no instance in Ekiti where a democratically elected government has succeeded itself since the state’s creation 29 years ago.
Oyebanji, who emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) through a consensus primary election to contest the state’s gubernatorial election next year, said this in an interview with journalists.
The governor said the trend has been the bane of the state’s development because there is always policy truncation; as a new government comes in, it often abandons the projects and policies of the former one.
“In the history of this state, we are 29 years old as a state, and no democratically elected government has been able to pull this kind of feat. There has been no time that a government succeeds itself. So, by God’s grace, if we win next year in June, we’ll be the first government that will run back-to-back.
“We have had governors who have spent two terms, but usually they will lose an election, leave and then return to office. And that has been the bane of our development, because there is always policy truncation, you know, when a government comes, it abandons the project and policies of the former. It will start its own, and it will spend four years, it will go, another government will come,” he said.
Speaking on his stake and experience in the creation and administration of Ekiti State, Oyebanji said, “When we were fighting for this state, by providence, I was the secretary of the committee for the creation of Ekiti state, I was a very young man then, I was 26 years then, I worked with the founding fathers of the State and I sat at meetings with them, I know their desire for Ekiti.
“I know the visions of the founding fathers of this state and there’s no politician in Ekiti State today that has the kind of experience I’ve had in public service. Before I became governor, I’ve put eleven years into public service. I started as a Senior Special Assistant, I later became a Special Adviser, and later became the Chief of Staff, to Governor Niyi Adebayo. We left in 2003. And then Dr Kayode Fayemi came in 2010. So, there was seven years hiatus.
“We came back in 2010, and I worked with Dr Fayemi for four years. I served in three different capacities- Commissioner for Integration and Intergovernmental Affairs; Head, Office of Strategy and Service Delivery, and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning. The Government lost re-election in 2014. In 2018, Dr Fayemi came back and I was appointed Secretary to the State Government.
“So, I have seen governance at very close range and those two appointments as Chief of Staff and SSG made me to work very closely with the two governors. I’ve seen them taking decisions and facing the consequences. So, I cannot claim not to have the experience when it comes to governance. I told myself when I got to this seat, that look, all these mistakes they’ve made, I have to avoid them. It was intentional on my part.”
Oyebanji also mulled sending a bill to the Ekiti State House of Assembly in his second term to establish a body similar to Council of State in which former governors and the incumbent as well as other critical stakeholders would meet from time to address issues relating to the affairs of the state.
“I discovered that the former governors don’t have good relationship with one another. When Governor Segun Oni was governor, we had a meeting in Ilupeju, and I told him Your Excellency, why don’t you do something like the Council of State, like an association or a forum of former governors to meet quarterly, he said he would do it, he didn’t do it.
“I’m going to do it in my second term. We are going to send a bill to the House of Assembly that will make it mandatory for any governor to have such a meeting once in a quarter. So, when I became governor, I made up my mind to be at peace with everyone.
“Governor Fayose did something that shocked me, his party contested against our party, the day I won, he called the candidate of his party to congratulate me and he should also write a letter of congratulation and he should not go to court. He did that.
“Kayode Ojo took me to court on pre- election matters, it ran to the Supreme Court. Engr Segun Oni took me to the court, it ran to the Supreme Court. For two years, I was in and out of court. So, if Fayose had added his own to it, I would have had three cases. At a point, I had 35 court cases.
“So, I went to him and said, why did you do this ? He said look, I am now matured and now I can rise beyond politics and be a statesman, you deserve every support that you can get. Some may ask how do I relate well with all the former governors. I just respect them. If they want to see me, I go to their houses. I don’t allow them to come to my office. I call them, I check on them. If they have social functions, I go there, that is all.
“People assume that maybe I’m giving them money. No. it’s not like that. Even if you give money and you don’t respect them, you know, they will just take the money and they will not support you. But it has got to a point now where I can pick my phone and call Governor Fayose or call the wife, it’s that kind of relationship I have with them and I also have relationship with their children.
“So, we are members of the same family, and the people are happy for that, we are able to plan our life, people are able to sleep with their two eyes closed, there is no tension in town, there’s no violence, you know and everybody is happy, and the State is better for it. So, it is just mutual respect and understanding,” he noted.
The governor declared that he is not jittery over the main election but he and his team will not be complacent and work till the last minute to emerge victorious at the polls, saying the outcome has implications for the 2027 general election.
“Politicians are incurable optimists, but am not. People will say that Ekiti is a one-party state, yes, but like you said, we have opposition, but we are waiting to know their candidates, then we will know the strategy to deploy.
“They don’t have a candidate yet but we will work until the election is won, because the election has implications for the 2027 presidential election.
“So, once their candidate emerges, then we will craft the appropriate strategy to deal with that. But are we jittery? No. But we won’t be complacent and also, we will not assume that it is Eldorado. We will work till the last minute,” he added.
