Opposition scheming to stop Gov Oyebanji from breaking Ekiti two-term barrier

ABIODUN NEJO writes that the opposition parties and the ruling All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State are once again at loggerheads over expectations from the government and preparations for the 2026 governorship poll in the state

The political landscape in Ekiti State is intense ahead of the 2026 governorship election, especially in the camps of the three leading political parties in the state – the All Progressives Congress, Social Democratic Party, and the Peoples Democratic Party.

While the opposition SDP and PDP are rooting for the status quo, that no governor succeeds himself, the ruling APC is making efforts to break the jinx by ensuring that Governor Biodun Oyebanji becomes the first in the state to win the governorship seat back-to-back.

The two governors in the state who have had the privilege to spend two terms – Ayodele Fayose of the PDP (2003-2006 and 2014-2018) and Dr Kayode Fayemi of APC (2010-2014 and 2018-2022), had interregnums between their first and second terms.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, the APC members expressed satisfaction with the performance and personality of Governor Oyebanji and have been endorsing him for another term.

In the countdown to the celebration of his two years in office coming up in mid-October, almost all sectors and groups, as well as some communities in the state, have openly given him the nod for a second term.

Oyebanji, whose first term of four years will expire on October 15, 2026, was hardly a year in office when political groups and leaders started endorsing him for a second term.

Endorsements galore

Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who contested for the APC governorship ticket in the primaries that produced Oyebanji as candidate in 2022 did not mince words during his (Bamidele’s) birthday in July 2023, when he said he would be the governor’s campaign Director-General for his re-election.

Also, the speed with which the PDP governorship candidate in the 2022 governorship, Bisi Kolawole, conceded defeat and congratulated Oyebanji, even at a time people were complaining about alleged monetisation of the election, was seen in some quarters as a sign of things to come in the state.

Oyebanji, on assumption of office, had wasted no time in visiting leaders in the state, including opposition party chieftains such as Fayose and Senator Abiodun Olujimi of the PDP and former Governor Segun Oni, then of SDP.

This was among the governor’s deft moves, which endeared him to many, including members of the opposition party.

The torrent of endorsements was flagged off during the thanksgiving service for his one-year in office when former governors Adeniyi Adebayo (APC), Fayemi, and Fayose gave Oyebanji a clean bill for another term in office.

Fayose, who spoke on behalf of the former governors on the occasion, said, “We are all together for Biodun Oyebanji. I am not a member of your party (APC) and I will not be. I am with you (Oyebanji) 100 per cent.

“We are going to support you (Oyebanji). You have come to visit me in my house seven times. You are doing it differently and you will get a different result. This church will pray for you and you will do it (governorship) a second time.”

Adebayo said Fayose’s assertion “is the position of we, the former governors”.

The endorsement tide, which had been on since then, gathered momentum recently, with the second-term chants renting the air at any available opportunity to gather.

The APC State Working Committee led by the acting state chairman, Sola Elesin; the party at different local governments and even the APC state caucus expressed satisfaction with the performance of the governor and endorsed him for another term of four years.

Ex-Governor Adebayo, while speaking during the APC state caucus meeting that he convened recently, expressed satisfaction with party members’ conduct and the good name Oyebanji was building for the party.

Also, Fayemi urged APC members in the state not to fret over the way Governor Oyebanji was relating with opposition members and waving the olive branch towards them, saying it would count in the ruling party’s favour.

The caucus, which is the party’s highest decision-making body at state level, according to a statement by the state APC Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, resolved that Oyebanji had represented the APC well and as such deserved a second term in office to sustain the good work.

“While the campaign time is not yet ripe, the good work of Governor Oyebanji should be encouraged to continue and continually proclaimed by al,l” Dipe stated.

LG chairmen for Oyebanji

On their part, the 38 council chairmen in the state, who are all of the APC, also at a meeting in mid-July resolved to support Oyebanji for another term in office.

The chairmen, under the aegis of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Ekiti State Chapter, in a communique signed by the state ALGON chairman, Oluwasegun Ojo, stated that their resolve to support Oyebanji for another term was in view of his “profound commitment to people’s wellbeing.”

Ojo stated, “We have witnessed significant advancements in agriculture, infrastructure, healthcare, and education. His handling of LGA/LCDA affairs has continued to receive accolades. His inclusive policies and innovative initiatives have addressed our immediate concerns and as well laid a solid foundation for long-term prosperity.”

Pensioners, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Ekiti chapter, led by their chairman, Joel Akinola, during the disbursement of N1bn cheques for payment of gratuities to 450 retirees, said with Oyebanji’s good deeds, he deserved a second term.

Also, from the Ikole Ekiti community recently, endorsement chants rented the air during the handover of the State Specialists Hospital in the town to the Federal Government for use as Federal Medical Centre – an occasion which marked official commencement of the federal tertiary institution in the town.

In all of these, the governor, who termed the endorsements as a vote of confidence in his administration, has been silent on his second-term ambition.

‘SDP not sleeping’

However, the SDP and PDP are of the view that the governor was only being distracted with endorsements despite not having anything commensurate on ground to show as achievements.

SDP state chairman, Dr Dele Ekunola, dismissed the endorsements as deceitful and an attempt to make the governor relax; giving him a false sense of support, believing that he had performed.

Ekunola, who said Oyebanji should learn from history and buckle up, said, “If I were him, I would not be deceived by what the party members are saying, rather, I would continue to work harder. With all they are saying now, they don’t want him to do any other thing than to relax. It will not help the state.

 “All the endorsements are just political statements. They know what they want. Other people in their party will still contest the governorship with him. The endorsements will not debar them from contesting.

“He still has over two years in office for the four-year tenure, they said he should come to contest for another term. They started, even when he had not completed a year in office, I hope he will not deceive himself too. It’s his party endorsing him, not Ekiti communities and other political parties.

Ekunola, who said the SDP was waxing stronger by the day and would not treat the 2026 governorship with kid gloves, said, “The endorsement of the governor for a second term by APC does not disturb the progress of our party.

“It is normal in politics, they can be saying this or that, after all during the first tenure of Fayemi, his preparation was more than this, but Fayose came, defeated him everywhere, and got the governorship from him.

“SDP is not waiting, we are not sleeping, we are not contented with our number two position in the last governorship election. We are seriously working to make sure we clinch the governorship in 2026. We know Oyebanji’s weak points; we are going to work on that. We are watching the state critically and watching him closely. We have no business with his being endorsed by his party members,” Ekunola said.

The immediate past PDP state chairman, Alaba Agboola, said his party and Ekiti people were concerned with the endorsements of the governor in some quarters for a second term when he had not fulfilled his electioneering promises.

Agboola said, “The endorsements do not translate to the expectations of the generality of the people in Ekiti State now. What people are yearning for is developmental projects – how the government will be accountable to the people and how the electioneering promises, which have not yet been fulfilled, will be fulfilled.

“The APC should have allowed the governor to concentrate on governance and give dividends of democracy to the people of Ekiti State, but what we are seeing is what I can call diversionary. They are not allowing the governor to concentrate on his job.”

He added, “As governor, you are not able to deliver on your promises to the people of Ekiti State and party members are endorsing you for another term, it means they don’t have the interest of the state at heart, what they are after is their gain, not how Ekiti people will benefit from democracy.

“All the roads in Ekiti State are not passable, that is what should be paramount to APC by now. It should be about how to ameliorate the problems that Ekiti people are facing at this time. But their intent is just to perpetrate themselves in power.”

The PDP chieftain stated that the PDP was hopeful of winning the next state governorship poll in the state.

“Our hope of victory in the 2026 governorship election is bright with what is going on in the state and the federal level. An adage says that if you don’t marry two husbands, you will not be able to differentiate. Our people can differentiate now between the governments of PDP and APC at the state and federal levels. There is no gainsaying that people are yearning for PDP to return to power,” Agboola stated.

“We are trying as much as possible to put our house to put all our differences together so that we can forge ahead. Our target is to get to the Government House in the 2026 election. It’s clear now that what the APC people are after is power without knowing what to use the power to do.

“Good governance is about providing the needs of the people. When PDP was in power, people enjoyed life abundantly, the exchange rate was okay, fuel price was okay, but everything is upside down now.”

APC unrelenting

But the APC state Publicity Secretary, Dipe, said that SDP and PDP were only displaying the hatred and contempt they had for the ruling party, insisting that APC leaders and Ekiti people genuinely loved and accepted Oyebanji, hence they were beckoning him to contest again.

Dipe said, “The governor is doing well and that they cannot take away, even their (opposition) party leaders have admitted that Oyebanji is the best to have happened to Ekiti at this crucial time. Anybody who is trying to criticise is doing so out of hatred, of contempt and not because that person has anything to say.

“Ekiti people are commending Oyebanji. If people are commending him that means that they want him to continue for another term, which is legitimate. This is based on his service and performance during his ongoing first term, which the people feel is okay.

“SDP and PDP are not in government, they are not the ones qualified to assess what Governor Oyebanji is doing because they cannot even see the good in what he is doing. And regrettably, they are in the weak opposition.”

He added, “They are meddlesome by saying that what we are doing in our party is a distraction. It is not affecting Oyebanji’s governance, it is not affecting his administration and it is not reducing the quality of service he is giving the people.

“We have our house in order; we have decided to come together that he should run a second term. We want to break that record to make sure that we have a governor who spends a second term back-to-back.

“Oyebanji is it, we started the continuity agenda and we are going to have the back-to-back governor in Oyebanji. They cannot stop us,” the APC spokesperson said.