Says I’m not Fayemi’s candidate
BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The immediate past Secretary to the State Government in Ekiti State, Abiodun Oyebanji, has picked the nomination form to contest for the forthcoming governorship election in the state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Oyebanji, who resigned recently, declared that he is not Gov. Kayode Fayemi’s anointed candidate because all aspirants have equal opportunity to take over from the governor at the expiration of his tenure.
He said his resignation was a response to the governor’s directive that those who have political ambition should resign.
“In furtherance to the directive of Mr governor that those who want to contest should resign, I resigned my appointment yesterday, and I am here to pick up my form. I am grateful to God. I am gracious to the governor for the opportunity he gave to me to serve.
“I’m a product of grace. God has been good to me. Ekiti is 25 years today. To the glory of God, I’ve put in 11 years in the service of Ekiti State at the executive level. I started as an SSA, and then SA and then Chief of Staff to the present governor of Ekiti State. Under Governor Kayode Fayemi, I was Commissioner for Integration and Inter-government Affairs; Head, Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery; Commissioner for Projects and Economic Planning during his first term in office.
“And when he came back again, I had the opportunity to serve as the Secretary to the State Government. At the executive level in Ekiti State, there are two positions I am yet to hold, they are the governor and the deputy governor. And during the agitation for the creation of Ekiti State, as a young man of 26 years old, I was secretary to the committee that fought for the creation of Ekiti State.
“I have the perfect understanding of the sentiment of our people. I know their needs, I know their situation. I was part of the team that crafted the blueprint for Ekiti State and I’ve learnt under the feet of great men, I’ve worked with two governors at very close levels. I’ve seen them take very tough decisions and I’ve seen them navigate the various curves in administration. I believe that I’m well positioned and experienced to lead Ekiti State. Especially, to continue the good work of Governor Kayode Fayemi. I am part and parcel of his vision, the five pillars and the five pillars is work in progress and I intend to continue from where he ends. My prayer is that he finishes well,” he said.
Oyebanji said the purported faction in the Ekiti State APC is a figment of the imagination of those peddling the rumour because such does not exist.
“I’m not aware of any faction in Ekiti State APC. Politics is a game of ideas and there are million views on how things should go. The APC is one family and as long as those characters you mentioned are still in APC we are one big family and even in families, there are always disagreement, so it’s not a big deal.
“So, I’m not aware of any division in Ekiti APC. We had our congresses, it went well and everyone participated. The party also has put in place a level playing field for everyone who might be interested in contesting to come and pick forms. So there’s no faction in APC in Ekiti State. We are one.”
The former SSG reiterated that the Governor of Ekiti State is the leader of the party in Ekiti State, adding that all aspirants are members of APC, and that the governor has no preferred candidate.
“A candidate will emerge at primary. I’m not his anointed, everyone that is running belongs to APC and he’s our leader and I’m sure that everyone enjoys his support.
“We have a five-pillar agenda that we are running. We have a state development master plan that has been crafted. Whatever we are going to do must find a space within those two documents and also in Ekiti State, we have a tradition of always consulting with the people to ask for their needs. So our approach to governance is going to be the bottom up approach that Governor Fayemi started. We will consult with them, we will ask for their needs and their preferences and those ones must find a space within the state development documents and policy that is being developed,” he noted.
Oyebanji maintained that he will stand with the party on the controversial direct primaries in the Electoral Bill, adding that the President’s decision on the Bill will be respected.
“Whatever the party brings up, we are ready for that. It’s not in our place to choose for the party. We are members of the party, we will follow whatever the party chooses.
“I will be riding on my experience in governance. I have been lucky to have worked at that level for eleven years and the state is just 25 years old. If I had the opportunity to have served at the executive level for eleven years under great men I think I have the requisite experience, exposure, capacity and character to lead Ekiti State.
“Then, the most pressing issue everywhere in the country today is poverty and insecurity. So, once poverty and insecurity are solved every other things will fall in place.
“You need to understand the people before you can proffer solution to their problems. I’m local, I live with my people. I know their problems, I know their wishes and aspirations. I have lived with them all my life. One unique selling point about my candidature is that I’ll be the first local that will aspire to the governoship of the state. I grew up from a very poor family. My parents were teachers. So I have a perfect understanding of the aspirations and sentiment of the people and I’ve been blessed to have worked with those that fought for the creation of Ekiti State. I know their vision for the state. We crafted the blueprint together.
“And various government that have worked in the state have tried their best to ensure that they push forward those agenda but government is a continuous process. “So, we start from wherever governor Fayemi ends. The most critical thing about governance is for you to connect with the people to ask them for their needs. So we are going to do governance with them not for them.”
Reacting to PDP claim of poor performance by the Fayemi administration, Oyebanji said, “What do you expect from opposition? You said they are opposition. That’s their opinion, and the beauty of democracy is that they are entitled to that. We are going to run on governor Fayemi’s performance to win this election and we are going to win hands down.”
