From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, in an interview withjournalists in the state spoke on how he has been able to steer the ship of thestate in the last two years, his achievements, the 2026 governorship race, keyareas to focus on in the remaining years of his administration, among otherissues.
Before now, Ekiti was always in the news for the bad reasonspolitically, but since you came into office, the reverse has been the case. Howhave you been able to change that narrative?
As a servant leader, every leader has a choice of how he wants to leadthe people. I am an apostle of what they call soft power and leadership. Itmeans you know that you have the power but you are careful not to misuse it. Itmeans empathy and compassion. When God entrusted this office into my hands, Imade up my mind that the only thing I will do on this seat, is to serve Ekitipeople in a way and manner that will bring development into this state. One ofthe basic ingredients of development is peace and I promised myself that aslong as it depends on me, I will be at peace with everyone. I believe thatpolitics ended after my swearing in as the governor of the state and that day,I took an oath to protect the constitution of this country and to serve thepeople regardless of political affiliations. As the governor, I see all of usas indigenes of Ekiti not belonging to party A ,B or C. I also note that anaverage human being deserves to be respected and as a leader, you need tohumble yourself and respect your people; you must show compassion and it willbe very easy for them to walk the path of development with you. So, in the lasttwo years, we have exhibited the highest sense of humility, compassion, empathyand transparency. I know that if the led trust their government, it will bevery easy to lead them and I try as much as possible to be truthful in anythingI say. If something is within my power to do, I will do it and if I cannot doit, I will come back to explain to Ekiti people why I have not been able to doit. So, we have exhibited trust as an ingredient of our politics. The peopleknow that when their governor makes a promise, it may be late, but it will bedone. All the leaders in the state are critical stakeholders and I need theirhelp in one way or the other and I run to all of them for advice. Let me saythat I don’t go to them as a politician, I go to them as governor of the stateand that makes it easy for them to relate with me. That is what is responsiblefor the peace we have in this state. As a leader, I have chosen the path ofpeaceful coexistence with everybody irrespective of political affiliations. Itis a choice I have made, it has its own consequences and sacrifices but as longas the strategy translates to the development of our people, it makes me happy.
What are those consequences you faced with this your decision asmentioned?
The price of people not accustomed to this style. You see some of ourpeople telling me that I am not using my power. Some elements within mypolitical party are also not comfortable with this posture. There have been alot of ripples within APC with the choices I have made, but like I told them,it is in the interest of Ekiti people. We don’t play politics with everything;there is time for politics and governance. So far, so good, I have the backingand support of critical leaders in the party and party members are getting usedto this style. Don’t forget, it is a new style in our politics in Ekiti andsome feathers might be ruffled, but I thank God that our people are gettingused to it.
You have done so much in two years with little resources coming to thestate; we would like to know how much your administration has borrowed torun the state?
Since we came into office, we have not embarked on any major borrowingother than the monthly overdraft we usually take from banks to pay salariesbefore the federal allocation comes into our account. We have not borrowed adime from any financial institution to run the state in the last two years.Where are we getting the money? There has been an increment in the revenueallocation from the Federal Government, and also there has been a majorincrease in our IGR. We met our IGR at about N600 million per month, but I cantell you that as of today, we are doing N1.5 billion per month and it keepsincreasing every month.
No doubt, you will be commissioning some projects during this secondyear anniversary, we would like to know the state of work as regards the EkitiState Cargo Airport?
The Ekiti airport is a work in progress. I think we are expecting theMinistry of Aviation and other regulatory agencies to give us the finalcertification. They have come here twice, and told us to do some adjustmentswhich we have done and once the team comes here next month by the grace of Godand a clean bill from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), FederalAirport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other regulatory agencies is given, weare good to go. The airport is ready and I am a perfectionist and when it comesto air travels, safety is key. I don’t want to play politics with passengers’safety. And there are many airports operating in the country today that are notas good as the one we have here, that is the truth. By the time Ekiti airportbegins operations, you will be proud of what we have done in that place; it isgoing to be one of the best in the country. Hopefully, if we get the necessaryapprovals, we have two airlines that we are talking to and they are ready tobegin operations. We are also trying to resolve the issue of accommodation formembers of staff from the regulatory agencies, they have started postingworkers here. Once that is sorted, everything will be in place and I have highhope that the airport will begin operation before the end of the year becauseall the physical structures have been completed. The control tower is there andof course, the car park and the rest are almost done. Let me say that I amextremely grateful to our revered Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) for his support onthe airport project because he has really assisted us beyond our expectation.
But the access road to the airport is currently in deplorable condition,what about this?
Don’t forget the road you are talking about is a federal road and it hasbeen awarded by the Federal Executive Council(FEC) and as of the last count, Iwas told that the Bureau of Public Procurement is to issue certificate of noobjection to the contractor and once that is done, they will mobilize to site.I must thank the Federal Government for this because when the Minister of Works(Dave Umahi) came here, he made a promise and it has been awarded by the FederalGovernment.
In recent times, you have held series of town hall meetings andcitizens’ engagements. What are the feedbacks you are getting from the people?
I don’t know if I am in the best position to assess myself, but so far,so good, what we have seen in those places we have gone to is that people arehappy with us, people have shown appreciation to the little we have been ableto do. The town hall meeting is not new, it is a carryover from the formeradministration, and that speaks to the continuity agenda. But what is importantfor me is that we believe strongly that as a government, you don’t just sit inthe office and rule over the people, There is need for engagement and also askthe people about their own perspectives, what they will like to see in thebudget, because government is about the people. Let me say that what makes mehappy about the meetings is that the last one we just ended, people came out totell us that last year they came here, they requested for some things and theyhave been done; so that tells me it is not a waste of time. They mentionedabout four to five things they requested for last year, that we have done. Eventhough we have not done all. Also, when we were campaigning, we went to thepeople to ask for their votes, it will not be too much for us to go back tothem now that we are in government. In fairness to the people, they are ouremployer, they put us here through their votes, there is need for constantengagement and discussion to even feel their pulse about the government. Itserves two purposes- to get their input and to gauge their views on how well weare doing. I can say on both counts, it is worth the while and I will continueto do that regularly.
There have been waves of endorsement for second term by differentcategories of people in the state and beyond including political leaders acrossboard. When will you respond to all these people calling for you to contestagain in 2026?
I am a highly spiritual person and the Bible says the race is not forthe swift nor the battle for the strong. My future is in the hands of God, butbe that as it may, I am extremely grateful to those clamouring and wishing wecontinue. I see it as a vote of confidence in our administration. It also putsa lot of burden on us to do more, because apparently, we must have done somethings that make them to say we should continue; so we must avoid a situationwhere people will wake up tomorrow and say they don’t want us again. We arejust at the midterm of this administration and it is nice to hear all thosethings but I don’t want to be distracted and I will continue to do things thatwill make them to say that. But our party has a process of electing who carriesthe flag of the party; the party will take a decision and whatever decisionthey take, it is okay by me. I thank God for this opportunity and my future isin the hands of God.
But there are feelers that some prominent APC members claiming to beclose to the presidency are gearing up to contest against you; are you worriedby this?
People that know me will tell you that I don’t get worried about thingslike that. This reason why I am not worried is that the seat of thegovernorship of Ekiti state is open to all Ekiti indigenes that are qualifiedto aspire. I am not worried at all. When the time for politics comes, we willplay it but for now, I don’t want to be distracted.
Now that you are at the midterm, are you planning to carry out cabinetreshuffle in line with Key Performance Indicators you set for your cabinetmembers?
We have the Office of Transformation, Service and Delivery (OTSD ) andthey have carried out assessment of members of the executive council twice. AndI have the reports, but I am a very fair person. I know ministries that we havesupported, I know those we have not been able to support. We are in midtermnow, they will do another assessment, which will make it three and after that Iwill sit down with the DG of OTSD, to look at the performances of members ofExcos and if there are those that need help, we will help. And if there arethose we cannot help, they will have to leave the cabinet, there is no doubtabout that. I will be guided by facts and whoever that does not measure up tothe threshold will leave the government.
Your administration has invested in agriculture, most importantly, the‘Bring Back Our Youth to Agric’ initiative, what are the plans of government inensuring these programmes are of huge benefit to Ekiti?
It will shock you that those people that are coming to the state to parkour yam tubers and other produce are those that gave our farmers money to plantfor them; when the Commissioner for Investment told me this, I wept because ourfarmers don’t have access to capital. In the beginning of the farming season,those who have money will come to Ekiti and give our farmers money to plant andcollect the proceeds later and just give them peanuts. You can’t tell someonewho has invested in a business not to make profit and that is why I said we arelooking for money for them through cooperative societies, so that they can goto their cooperatives, take loan, plant and be in charge of prices when it istime for them to sell. But, we are turning that curve now by the grace of God,and by next year we will do more. Part of the problems also is that most of ourfarmers have not joined cooperatives and it takes a lot of advocacy to changethat orientation. The Bring Back our Youth to Agriculture is one programme I amvery proud of and I must commend the Commissioner for Agriculture and FoodSecurity and the state investment promotion agency. When we started the programme,people thought it would not be possible; we asked our youths to register and wetrained them in partnership with a private sector. We started with 930 youthsin six clusters across the state and cumulatively they have cultivated morethan 2,000 hectares of all sorts of crops ranging from maize to cassava to yamto beans to soya to vegetables among others. I took it upon myself to go andsee those farms and what they have done, I was shocked. But there are stillchallenges we need to confront and as I speak to you, there are people who areready to put down their money to offtake but the issue is that I don’t wantthose products to be taken outside Ekiti State. Our plan is to offtake, keepand release to the market next year when there is shortage but there is a challengeof where we are going to store them. The Silos we could have used werevandalized during #EndSARS protest, we even engaged the person in charge of theplace to see how we can work together to rebuild, the person said themanufacturers have to do it themselves and they have not done it and we arenearing harvest season. The fears from those in government is that if we storeup anywhere in town, they can be looted. Should we sell and let our farmershave the money but it will defeat the aim of the project because it is to crashprices of these items in Ekiti State. We have made up our mind that next year,we will continue to build warehouses and silos so that we can store our farmproduce.
What is your administration’s plans for the people of the state on theissue of electricity which is important to the growth of the economy?
We have done the electricity audit of the state, the way we are now, weare off the national grid; we get electricity from neighboring states and the FederalGovernment is trying to put in place two other sub-stations in Ilupeju-Ekitiand Ijesa Isu and they told me it is going to take two years to finish it. Theonly one we have is the 33KVA and there is a limit to how far it can radiateelectricity. So, we take electricity from Kwara, Kogi, and Osun states. Whenthese states experience downturn, they switch us off. On a daily basis, thenumber of megawatts coming to Ekiti is less than eight, and that is why we cameup with the idea of the Independent Power Plant (IPP) to increase the quantityof electricity available to Ekiti people. Since we got to office, the FederalMinistry of Power has commended Ekiti as one of the states, if not best thathas opened up rural areas to electricity. We have connected more than thirtycommunities that have not had electricity for over ten to fifteen years. But,when you do that too, a community that has no electricity for ten years, onceyou energize their transformer, it blows off. The solution is for us to startgenerating electricity for ourselves, that is the most sustainable solution andwe are talking to about three vendors. But, before that is done, we have tomanage the 33KVA sub-station we have here and also put pressure on the Federal Governmentto complete those ones being built in Ilupeju-Ekiti and Ijesa-Isu communities.We are also exploring the possibilities of renewable energy but this requires alot of study and once it is done, it is going to be a combination of renewableenergy and the hydro we have in the state. What I can tell you is thatelectricity in the state has improved because of the new electricity law wehave signed, it has bailed us out from the monopoly of the BEDC which has ledto the increase in the number of hours we are having electricity and with thatlaw, I believe by next year, we will witness appreciable improvement in powersupply to our people.
Are you comfortable with the security situation in the state?
Well, am I comfortable? No! Has there been improvement? Yes! Goingforward, we will continue to improve but unfortunately, I can’t discuss atlength on this issue. I can assure you that there has been remarkableimprovement except pockets of attacks on the soft targets like kidnappings andherders crisis with farmers. We are in constant discussion with the securitychiefs and if you observe lately, the issue we faced in Ado-Ekiti over killingsof people including PoS agents sometimes ago, have been nipped in the bud. Imust use this medium to commend the security chiefs in Ekiti, they are workingtogether in unison. I hope Ekiti example is what others will study, becausethey are working together and sharing intelligence and this has really helpedus in the state.
What will be the key priority areas for your administration goingforward?
We have used the last two years to lay a very solid foundation foreconomic growth and development of this state. We campaigned on the mantra ofshared prosperity but the people will not prosper if we didn’t put some thingsin place. We have spent the last two years in erecting the blocks forprosperity and the next year budget is going to address the issue of foodsecurity and welfare in Ekiti State. We are going to be deliberate in ourefforts on agriculture and cater for the informal sector of the economy and theSmall, Micro and Medium Enterprises because those are the engines of growth.But you can’t do these things if the state is not secured or withoutinfrastructure or not accessible and that is why the airport is key because aroad leads to the next town, an airport leads to the world, that is thedifference between an airport and a road. From here, you can take off and go tothe United States but when you leave Ado here by road, you will be going toIkere or the next town. We have to open up the state and that is what theairport does. So, once we are able to get the airport operational, investorswill come into the state. We will scale up our intervention on security thoughit has improved tremendously. The next two years is to ensure that we scale upour intervention in agriculture and also creating platforms for SMEs to thrive.We must make our economy to be productive because productivity is the key toprosperity.
You have made a declaration of paying N70,000 new minimum wage forworkers but there are fears this might affect the pace of development in thestate, how are you going about this?
Like I said earlier, I want to tell the truth all the time and I am nothere to do things so that people will clap for me. The minimum wage is a lawsigned by the President and ratified by the National Assembly. It is a law andI swore to an oath to uphold the law of this country, so I don’t have to make aformal statement in respect to that, that is the truth. I don’t want to playpolitics with the minimum wage. There is a committee we have put in place thatis working with the labour leaders, they have gone far and I don’t want to pre-emptwhat will be the outcome of the committee. The only thing I can tell our peopleis we need to be extremely patient and we should not follow the multitude. Ifwe are going to pay minimum wage in Ekiti, we must start with everybody, Idon’t want a situation whereby, we pay state workers alone and neglect localgovernment workers and teachers, I am not going to be part of that. My chargeto the committee is that if they are starting tomorrow, all the workers inEkiti state including pensioners must benefit from it. I want a comprehensivereport on this, but I can say I am paying the core civil servants and peoplewill clap for me but others like the teachers and local government workers andthe pensioners will have been left out. On whether it is going to affect theinfrastructure development in the state, we have to make a choice and like Isaid, next year budget is on welfare, it is a priority for us. But you need toalso consider the percentage of people that will benefit from this new minimumwage and the generality of Ekiti people, we must strike a balance. So, we willdo it in such a manner that neither side will suffer. Workers will be happy andalso we develop the state and those not in the employment of government will behappy too. We must distribute the cake in a way and manner that both the publicservice employees, those in the informal sector, and our senior citizens arehappy and the committee is working hard in this regard and closing theirdiscussion. I don’t want to join the multitude. I am driven by doing the rightthing at all times and like I told you, I am an apostle of soft power which isabout compassion and empathy. I don’t make reckless statements. I can assureEkiti workers that they will be happy and they know that there is nothing Itold them that I have not done. If we pay minimum wage, it is going to increasethe purchasing power of the workers, these same workers will go to the market,pay rents, patronize the artisans and among others, the money will stay in thestate and by the time we start paying, those people providing those serviceswill be positively impacted. That is why we must grow the informal sector sothat the person selling will have enough money to stock their shops. We haveput in place measures to ensure they benefit from our programmes and that iswhy we have not owed deductions because those things as small as they are, theymake big impact in the economy.