The Senate leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has declared that he won’t be contesting against Governor Biodun Oyebanji for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2026 governorship election in Ekiti.
Bamidele who represents Ekiti central senatorial district stated that the governor in almost two years in office has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to the development of the state by embracing every stakeholder regardless of their status and political tendencies.
He added that even though there were pressures for him to contest in the next governorship election, he had decided to support the governor towards his second term, which he said would be in the interest of the state.
Bamidele spoke at the weekend during the commissioning of a series of his constituency projects across the senatorial district, including the male and female hostels for medical students at the Ekiti State University (EKSU) Ado-Ekiti, Bishop Gabriel Oloniyo Public Digital Library which he handed over to the state government.
Also commissioned were a 2-kilometer road in EKSU, Oluyin night market in Iyin-Ekiti, Elderly Day Care Center (Ile Arugbo), and the palace road in the community.
The Senator said he can carry out a lot of constituency projects across the six local governments that make up his Central Senatorial District because the Governor has created and sustained an atmosphere of peace and tranquility in the state that is devoid of hostility and mutual suspicion which he said was experienced in the state previous years.
He said the peaceful atmosphere, coupled with the Governor’s open hands to the various political tendencies has encouraged everyone to contribute his quotas to the development of the state.
According to him, “I want to use this opportunity to thank our Governor, I say this everywhere I go to, if you elected somebody to represent you in Abuja and he comes back home to do something it is because they allow him to come back home and walk around freely. If they don’t allow us, we will just remain in Abuja, we will not pass our boundary.
“But we have a Governor today who will sit down with us and say this is what our people need, if you want to do your constituency project, please, work on this list and I know that market development was part of what the Governor discussed with us, transformer was part of it, solar street light was part of it and by the grace of God every member of the national Assembly would pick from the list given to us by the Governor because if we do not do what the people want at where they want it, it will be useless.
“Your Excellency, we are proud of you and I know that by the grace of God like everyone is saying, anybody that thinks there is vacancy in 2026 is only deceiving himself and I am begging you, don’t let anybody deceive our people. You sent nine of us to Abuja, three senators and six House of Representative members and at the appropriate time, the nine of us will do our advert jointly signed endorsing Governor Oyebanji as our consensus candidate in all the dailies.
“I am sorry If I have offended some people or anyone by saying it is not my intention to run for Ekiti governorship in 2026. I am sorry if I have offended anyone with this decision, I have said this in good faith and it is no longer about any individual ambition but about our state and people who are hungry and need all the help. I have chosen to form a partnership with Oyebanji which I know in eight years will take this state to greater height.”
Responding, Governor Oyebanji commended the developmental strides of Senator Bamidele and how he had collaborated with his administration in the state by attracting many federal projects to the state.
He reiterated his commitment in forming partnerships with leaders and citizens from the state regardless of political differences towards achieving his desired shared prosperity agenda for the state.
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