By Foluke Akosile Lawof
It’s no longer news that Ekiti State of Nigeria is gearing towards the next gubernatorial election, it’s no longer news that there are two major contenders under the umbrella of All Progressive Congress (APC) for the number one seat in the state. We have the incumbent governor, H.E Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, who will be the first democratically elected governor to have an uninterrupted two terms in the history of Ekiti State if he wins the gubernatorial primaries and Engr Kayode Ojo a business man, who isn’t new to the state politics.
This will be a long read and I will write without bias about my observations on the race for Oke Ayoba Government House in Ado Ekiti.
Let me take you through the governorship history of Ekiti since 1999. Ekiti has been a very interesting but peculiar state, we have had the highest number of governors since our latest democracy, if I am not mistaken.
Otunba Niyi Adebayo 1999- 2003 (4 years)
Mr. Ayo Fayose 2003 – 2006 (3 years, 140 days)
Chief Friday Aderemi 2006- 2006 (3 days)
19th October 2006, there was State of Emergency SOLAD, he took charge for 190days. Brigadier General Tunji Olurin
Chief Tope Ademiluyi acted as governor for 32 days. April 2007 – 29 May 2007.
Chief Olusegun Oni May 29th – Feb 17th 2009 (1 year, 264 days)
Rt. Hon Tunji Odeyemi 17 Feb – 6 May 2009 (78 days)
Chief Olusegun Oni 6 May 2009 – 15 October 2010
Dr. Kayode Fayemi 2010 – 2014 (4 years)
Mr. Ayodele Fayose 2014 – 2018 (4 years)
Dr. Kayode Fayemi 2018 – 2022 (4 years)
H.E. Abayomi Biodun Oyebanji 2022 –
I had to state the above so that readers can understand the cut and join intricacies that has surrounded the governorship seat of Ekiti State.
Now, we are moving to another govetnorship election era, thankfully, since Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s first term, it seems there has been stability in the tenures of Ekiti State governors, though no governor of Ekiti State has been able to do an uninterrupted second term.
Presently, it’s looking like that jinx may be broken if the incumbent governor popularly known as BAO wins the APC gubernitorial ticket and the primary election is next month.
Both camps of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) and his closest contender Engr. Kayode Ojo (EKO) are slugging it out both on ground and on social media.
What are my observations about the two contenders?
I will start with the incumbent governor H.E Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.
He looks so quiet and unassuming but, undestimate him at your own peril. The way we call PBAT master strategist, is the same way we should call GBAO master strategist, he did his homework well.
Please read from a place of unbias. How did BAO manage to woo all former governors into his camp irrespective of political affiliations?
In politics, especially in Nigeria, you need political structure and then money, he already has the political structure as it stands, He is in a strong party and he also has the support of people from the opposition party. The following people have publicly identified with BAO Dr Kayode Fayemi, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Senator Olujimi, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele…many other leaders of APC in Ekiti State seem to be solidly behind him. Which other structure does he need and obviously, money cannot be a problem if you have these caliber of people behind you.
Though some are saying the presidency have reservations about the incumbent’s loyalty and that he may decamp to ADC after winning the election. I strongly doubt this because what most don’t know about the incumbent governor is that he is a loyal party man, I don’t see him leave the progressive fold. He is a smart man who many never took note of, until he emerged in 2022.
Now to the another major contender, Engr. Kayode Ojo (EKO). EKO isn’t strange to Ekiti people and Ekiti politics. He has contested for the gubernatorial ticket before now and he came close to getting it. Some people are saying he is the mentee of the Honourable Minister of solid minerals, Chief Dele Alake whom most call Ajiroba. Ajiroba is the one who wakes up and sees the king, the king in this context is PBAT. Some quarters are thinking he may be anointed by the presidency because of his closeness to Ajiroba. EKO has also contributed his quota to Ekiti APC though at some point, he took the party to court.
The party members that are not happy with the incumbent governor have pitched their tent with EKO, they are championing the campaign for him.
We all know that the delegates dictate who gets the primaries ticket, the delegates are King in this situation. Will the delegates have the back of the incumbent 24/7? Will they go the EKO way, will the presidency involve itself in the party primary? Fingers are crossed.
What is certain is that whoever clinches the APC ticket will become the next governor of Ekiti State because, presently as it stands, there is no opposition in Ekiti State.
Leave a Reply