Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has said he would not get distracted by underhand political permutations ahead of the 2026 governorship race in the state, describing the idea of a second term as the least of his worries for now.
The governor also said work on the 1.2-kilometre flyover to be constructed between Okeyinmi and Ijigbo roundabouts in Ado Ekiti would commence early in the year to help decongest the business district and give the state capital Ekiti a facelift.
Oyebanji stated these on Saturday at the grand finale of the 2024 Week of Prayer, organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in conjunction with the Ekiti State Government, held at Jibowu Hall, Government House, in Ado Ekiti.
At the intercessional programme, prayers were offered for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the success of his economic policies and programmes as well as for the security and progress of the country. The Biodun Oyebanji administration was also rededicated to God for guidance and leadership.
Addressing the congregation at the event, which was a follow-up to the maiden edition held on January 14, 2023, Governor Oyebanji said news had been filtering in that some politicians had started holding nocturnal meetings ahead of the 2026 governorship election, saying he wouldn’t allow this to derail his focus in the interest of Ekiti citizens.
According to him, “They said some people have started holding meetings; I am not bothered by this. For now, 2026 is the least of my worries. What I am really bothered by is leading Ekiti to prosperity and allowing God to guide us.
“I have made a covenant that there won’t be tolerance for corruption, dishonesty, and disobedience to orders, so I won’t allow second-term ambition to distract me. Human beings can play politics, but God is the master politician. He knows how to take care of everything.”
In his testimony, Oyebanji relayed to the congregation that prayer and faith in God have made governance an easy task for him, not brilliance, exposure, or any other factor.
“When I became the governor, which I never believed in my wildest imagination, I was asked to state what I wanted to go and do. I said God told me to go and feed my people. That was why, the first year, I dedicated it to the welfare of my people. We were paying salary, pension, and gratuity.
“As we were doing all these, some people asked what was going to be my legacy; they advised that I should go and do infrastructure, but I insisted that if I fed the people first, infrastructure would come, because I was obeying God, money for infrastructure was being provided.
“ Let me tell you that work will commence in the coming weeks on the flyover we planned to construct in Ado Ekiti to ease traffic in the business district around Ejigbo. This is just one of many other projects that will be undertaken.
“In the last year, God has done in Ekiti what only He can do. People are asking, Where is he getting the money?
“Some said I didn’t have the right connections. But God, in His infinite mercy, has sent me on a mission, and when God says I should move, I do that, and we have been able to meet the expectations of the people.
“God just thrust me forward, knowing that I wasn’t the most brilliant, the most connected, and I didn’t have anything called political structures.
The only thing I will continue to do is exalt God in this position. There wasn’t any time I got worried that I was the governor because I knew He sent me on this mission,” he said.
Particularly, Oyebanji appealed to politicians and political officeholders to always exhibit a sacrificial spirit, saying they should perceive leadership as service to God and humanity.
In his sermon, the CAN Chairman in Ekiti, Reverend Emmanuel Aribasoye, charged Nigerians to always embrace justice and fair play and run away from attitudes that can corrupt the system for the nation to enjoy peace, unity, and prosperity.
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