By Wole Olujobi — Last time, I adverted to the minds of my readers the norm among rival political parties during campaigns ahead of major elections, explaining the dangers of propaganda and blackmail and their effects on innocent victims of political mudslinging. I cautioned that media campaigns in which individuals are targeted for attacks are inimical to the very purport of democratic governance, which emphasises decorum as the only elixir that guarantees peaceful co-existence after the election to create atmosphere for progress.
I insisted that the consequences of blackmail are invariably at variance with the purport of political engagements that emphasise public good far above impish attempts at dragging others in the mud of infamy and stressed that politics is supposed to be a code for social and economic engineering, including a moral re-armament device, to redirect the nation to the path of growth from the years of waste and human mismanagement.
Barely three weeks after that admonition, individuals apparently motivated by political interest are afield, spewing reckless lies with the sole aim of damaging the character of opponents to reap political capital.
An instance of this is the essay entitled: “The Pharaoh Of Oke Ayoba: Oyebanji’s Waning Spell And The Revolt Within” by one Mr Akindele Matthew of no fixed address in Ado-Ekiti, who wrote online, raising spurious allegations against Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State.
All the allegations, with the trappings of political mudslinging, are concocted apparently to mislead voters in their judgment ahead of the 2026 governorship election.
Akindele alleged that Oyebanji is arrogant, an opinion diametrically opposed to the trait in the governor. Humility is one of the attributes that observers ascribe to the governor, including the clergy, who are wont to spare no rod to scold moral deficit in anyone, no matter highly placed, during sermons.
Oyebanji may not be perfect just like other human beings are not perfect, yet of all human weaknesses and character flaws, arrogance is strange to Oyebanji’s nature in his public conduct. It is what Ekiti people attest to everyday.
The writer also accused Oyebanji of treating his commissioners as his personal assistants and I wonder if Oyebanji has two sets of conducts with which he governs Ekiti people: one that Ekiti people see day and night and applaud and the other negative one seen only by critics for political advantage.
The governor that was accused of treating his commissioners like personal assistants by Akindele is reputed to provide his commissioners and special advisers with all necessities and comforts comparable to their counterparts in richer states, such as Lagos, Delta and Rivers. Oyebanji provided all the members of his cabinet with brand new jeeps, the first time in the history of Ekiti State. Not done, he also increased their Exco allowance almost 100 percent and was the first governor to adjust pay for the state functionaries. How else can a governor treat his staff to demonstrate the generosity of the heart! It must be noted that it was the same generosity of the heart of Oyebanji that endeared him to Ekiti people, which earned him victory in the first term election.
This is besides ensuring that he meets regularly with his cabinet to share ideas in convivial atmosphere.
The writer also deceived the public that the commissioners are kept in the dark by the governor in the running of their ministries while also treating them like slaves. This is a lie from the pit of hell. Governor Oyebanji is renowned as a man that sticks to the rules and protocols governing the State Executive Council meetings and activities. Even when he is outside the state, which is rare, Exco meetings are conducted virtually.
Oyebanji is the first governor in Ekiti State who doesn’t believe that his commissioners or anyone else must stand up to address him; they sit down to address him privately or in official engagements, yet this is the same man that Akindele is accusing of treating his commissioners in the most condescending manner like a slave.The records are there and honest observers can attest to this.
It is wicked to accuse Oyebanji of not carrying along the Commissioner of Works, Mr Sola Adebayo, in contracts awards. In Ekiti State, neither the governor nor Adebayo, nor any Commissioner for that matter, awards contracts; the State Executive Council does in scheduled meetings with all rules governing contracts and due process meticulously followed with active participation of the Due Process Office. It is on record that details of what transpired in the EXCO meetings are almost immediately available in the media for the public to read. The active and hardworking Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, has never shirked in this responsibility.
Akindele also accused Oyebanji of abandoning Ekiti roads but failed to mention the particular state roads that Oyebanji abandoned. Honest observers will attest that state roads construction is one of the strong points in favour of Oyebanji in his scorecard. It is on record that many of the abandoned roads, such as the decrepit Omisanjana road, are now wearing great shape. Omisanjana ring road that connects Ikere-Akure Road will always serve as a travellers’ delight, as road users are saved precious time in their travelling schedule.This is besides new roads, including ring roads that traverse Afao, Are, Ilupeju, Igbemo and Ijan roads, Ado-Ifaki road and other township roads, such as the dreaded Moferere road, the abandoned adjoining roads along Ado-Afao, Olorunda road, GRA Extension and several other inter-town and township roads totalling 98 roads. The records are there in the Ekiti State Government website to verify these claims.
Akindele posited that Oyebanji abandoned some roads without listing instances of the roads that were abandoned. It is on record that Oyebanji planned to repair Federal roads that are in bad conditions, but he is handicapped by the existing rules governing works on federal roads by the state governments. Even at that, Oyebanji still went ahead to complete the abandoned Ado-Ifaki federal road.
Because of his warm relationship with the President, the Federal Government has awarded contracts for the roads that are always pointed to as instances of bad roads in Ekiti State over which Oyebanji is being crucified. By President Tinubu’s intervention, contractors have mobilised to sites to start working on these roads.
The Ekiti State government in partnership with the development agencies is also working across the state in the RAAMP road projects that will fix no fewer than dozens of roads across the state, particularly the ones that have economic value in agricultural production.
In one breath, Akindele alleged that Oyebanji abandoned roads that were not named, and the next moment, he alleged that the roads that Oyebanji constructed were not captured in the budget. Which one do we believe in his two opinions? It is hard to reconcile the two conflicting opinions.
It is gratifying that the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has shed more light on the conditions of Ekiti roads, warning that it is the height of mischief for anyone to accuse Oyebanji for the deplorable conditions of these roads, even as he explained that the governor had done his best to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the problem. He said Oyebanji’s intervention had yielded positive results, as the Federal Government had awarded contracts for the construction of the roads.
Contrary to Akindele’s claim that lawmakers were being treated like slaves, the governor holds them in high esteem. If there is one state government in Nigeria that is being propelled by one vision as the collective vision of the party in power, it is Oyebanji-led APC government. Because of this collective vision between the Executive and Legislature that eliminates acrimony between the two arms of government, critics call the Assembly a rubberstamp, forgetting that modern governance system has no room for throwing chairs and breaking heads even in multi-partisan Assemblies. The Executive-Legislative partnership that the APC-controlled state government instituted in 2011 is still working magic in Ekiti State because the lawmakers, propelled by party discipline, share same vision with the Executive in the state’s development strategies.
The writer also accused the governor of holding all the lawmakers in contempt, meaning that the governor does not spare the Speaker in such alleged contemptible treatment. But the writer got himself confused when he again alleged that the lawmakers had on several occasions attempted to impeach the Speaker. The question is, over what were they planning the impeachment of the Speaker? Is it because they suffer the same alleged fate in the hands of the governor that they want to impeach the Speaker? Is there anything like ‘dog eats dog’ mentality in Ekiti State House of Assembly? The answer is a resounding NO!
The writer also sought to pit former Governor Kayode Fayemi against Oyebanji, suggesting that there are pro-Fayemi lawmakers and pro-Oyebanji lawmakers even though fact remains that Oyebanji never sponsored any candidate for Assembly polls. He also never had any preference in the choice of principal officers during Assembly inauguration contrary to the claim by Akindele that thugs were mobilised on the Assembly inauguration day to influence the election of principal officers in Oyebanji’s favour. The lawmakers simply followed the zoning rules set by APC in the choice of principal officers.
Akindele also alleged that each local government collects N200m monthly (possibly for capital expenses) and that the money “vanished”, meaning that the 16 local governments collect N3.2b monthly for capital expenses and all the N3.2b “vanishes” just like that regularly on monthly basis, yet the local governments have not closed down.This is false, for if this were so, how did local governments raise funds for their development programmes as we have seen in Ajoni Local Council Development Area and Ado West Local Council Development Area, among other local governments, that have been posting promising service delivery in Ekiti State?
The truth is that the cumulative capital vote that comes to all the 38 local governments monthly oscillates between N380m and N400m in addition to the 10 per cent state internally generated revenue contrary to Akindele’s claim of N200m for each local government monthly.
In an apparent but impish attempt at setting the Federal Government against Oyebanji, Akindele alleged that there is no positive effect of the funding support provided for Ekiti State by President Tinubu. If we may ask, where did Oyebanji get the money to pay the new minimum wage, pensions, gratuity, subventions to tertiary institutions, direct interventions in tertiary institutions, opening up of new roads, overhaul of health centres, including hospitals, and upgrading works at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, water projects, enhanced agricultural production, restoration of electricity to several communities that were thrown into darkness for more than 10 years and scholarships to indigent students, among several other intervention schemes that are now adding value to the lives of Ekiti people?
It is not also true that Oyebanji is hostile to the members of APC’s State Executive. If Oyebanji is making life difficult for party Exco members, why are the same leaders rooting for his second term while Oyebanji is also drawing support everyday from across the state?
Is Oyebanji popular among workers? The answer is YES. These workers sought understanding with Oyebanji before his election, and it is on record that Oyebanji has even surpassed the understanding he had with the workers by paying them all their due, including salary arrears, promotion arrears, pay their outstanding deductions, regular promotions, training and retraining of the workforce, restoring car and housing loans, including recapitalising housing and car loans to ensure that more workers benefit.
In Ekiti State, teachers and civil servants determine the fate of any governor seeking re-election, and what we have seen so far points to a total support for Oyebanji by the entire workforce.
That explains why the local government workers were the first to publicly clamour for Oyebanji for second term in an open declaration of endorsement that drew media and public attention to the colourful declaration of support in the state capital. Details of Oyebanji’s landmarks in the local government system that have “arrested” the workers will be published shortly.
The primary school teachers have never had it so good as they are experiencing under Oyebanji. I advise Mr Akindele never to preach his hate sermon against Oyebanji among Ekiti teachers in both primary and secondary schools so that he does not draw their anger.
This also explains why workers and teachers are more than ready to support Oyebanji for second term, contrary to Akindele’s claim that workers are being coerced into contributing money to fund Oyebanji’s election.
Contrary to Akindele’s claim that Ekiti people are angry with Oyebanji, the reality on ground is that the support groups in the last election will be a child’s play with what is to happen in the 2026 governorship election. Support groups totalled more than 100 in the first term. This time, it is more than double. The ground was tested during the recent unprecedented endorsement rally by a coalition of Ekiti interest groups who funded the endorsement rally that shook the state capital.
Contrary to Akindele’s assertion that Oyebanji has failed to deliver on campaign promises, the governor’s development initiatives earned global acclaim when the state was ranked third in the SBM Health Preparedness Index 2024; listed as one of the only two states and FCT that attracted foreign investments (Q1 2024); ranked second in the BudgIT State Fiscal Transparency League; ranked fourth in the subnational Climate Governance Performance (2023); and ranked first in the Annual Growth Rate of IGR (2023).
These are facts that President Tinubu saw before he spoke recently, praising Governor Oyebanji for his sterling performance, and assuring that the Federal Government will continue to support Oyebanji to achieve more milestones as a hardworking governor.
As canvassed in my earlier essay, what Ekiti State needs now in her development initiatives is an issue-based campaigns devoid of bile and character assassination in a homogeneous state united by the same culture, needs and destiny, particularly now that Oyebanji has demonstrated capacity to bear the torch to light Ekiti State’s path to individual and collective prosperity.
Let the candidates sell their programmes to the electorate. It is the programme appeal that can win elections and not character assassination. Propaganda and lies do not work in Nigerian politics again. They failed to work against the late MKO Abiola, President Muhammadu Buhari and President Tinubu, who received the harshest criticisms and blackmail in Nigeria’s electoral history.
Ekiti people deserve decency and peace, and not reckless lies against the opponents ahead of the governorship poll that can stoke violence. Propaganda and outright lies are not what Ekiti people need to maintain the development momentum that Oyebanji has created in Ekiti’s march to greater heights.
* Olujobi writes from Ado-Ekiti.
