In this interview, the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji speaks on his first two years in the saddle of governance and specific programmes he has been able to execute for the development of the state. He also speaks on the politics of 2026 and the projections for the rest of his tenure, among other issues. Excerpts:
Mr. Governor, you have done much in two years with little resources coming to the state going by the federal allocation. We will like to know how much your administration has borrowed to finance these projects and the state of the Internally Generated Revenue.
Since we came into office, we have not embarked on any major borrowing other than the monthly overdraft we usually take from banks to pay salaries before the federal allocation comes into our account.
We have not borrowed a dime 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 revenue allocation from the Federal Government, and also there has been a major increase in our IGR. We met our IGR at about N600 million per month, but I can tell you that as of today, we are doing N1.5 billion per month and it keeps increasing every month.
You have made a declaration of paying N70, 000 new minimum wage for workers but there are fears this might affect the pace of development in the state, How are you going about this?
Like I said earlier, I want to tell the truth all the time and I am not here to do things so that people will clap for me. The minimum wage is a law signed by the President and ratified by the National Assembly. It is a law and I swore an oath to uphold the law of this country; so, I don’t have to make a formal statement in respect to that. That is the truth.
I don’t want to play politics with the minimum wage. There is a committee we have put in place that is working with the labour leaders. They have gone far and I don’t want to preempt what will be the outcome of the committee. The only thing I can tell our people is we need to be extremely patient and we should not follow the multitude.
If we are going to pay minimum wage in Ekiti, we must start with everybody, I don’t want a situation whereby we pay state workers alone and neglect local government workers and teachers, I am not going to be part of that. My charge to the committee is that if they are starting tomorrow, all the workers in Ekiti State, including pensioners, must benefit from it.
I want a comprehensive report on this, but I can say I am paying the core civil servants and people will clap for me but others like the teachers and local government workers and the pensioners will have been left out.
On whether it is going to affect the infrastructure development in the state, we have to make a choice and like I said, next year’s budget is on welfare, it is a priority for us. But you need to also consider the percentage of people that will benefit from this new minimum wage and the generality of Ekiti people, we must strike a balance. So, we will do it in such a manner that neither side will suffer- Workers will be happy and also we will develop the state and those not in the employment of the government will be happy too.
We must distribute the cake in a way and manner that both the public service employees, those in the informal sector, and our senior citizens are happy and the committee is working hard in this regard and closing their discussion. I don’t want to join the multitude.
I am driven by doing the right thing at all times and like I told you, I am an apostle of soft power which is about compassion and empathy. I don’t make reckless statements. I can assure Ekiti workers that they will be happy and they know that there is nothing I told them that I have not done. If we pay minimum wage, it is going to increase the purchasing power of the workers, these same workers will go to the market, pay rents, patronise the artisans and among others, the money will stay in the state and by the time we start paying, those people providing those services will be positively impacted.
That is why we must grow the informal sector so that the person selling will have enough money to stock their shops. We have put in place measures to ensure they benefit from our programmes and that is why we have not owed deductions because those things, as small as they are, have a big impact on the economy.
“The reason why I am not worried is that the seat of the governorship of Ekiti state is open to all Ekiti indigenes that are qualified to aspire. I am not worried at all. When the time for politics comes, we will play it but for now I don’t want to be distracted”
Before now Ekiti has always been in the news for bad reasons politically, but since you came in, these crises have vanished. How have you been able to achieve this in bringing major political tendencies and leaders together to be on the same page with you?
As a servant leader, every leader has a choice of how he wants to lead the people. I am an apostle of what they call soft power and leadership. It means you know that you have the power but you are careful not to misuse it. It means empathy and compassion.
When God entrusted this office into my hands, I made up my mind that the only thing I will do on this seat is to serve Ekiti people in a way and manner that will bring development into this state. One of the basic ingredients of development is peace and I promise myself that as long as it depends on me, I will be at peace with everyone.
I believe that politics 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 the people regardless of political affiliation.
As the governor, I see all of us as indigenes of Ekiti not belonging to party A, B or C. I also note that an average human being deserves to be respected and as a leader you need to humble yourself and respect your people; you must show compassion and it will be very easy for them to walk the path of development with you.
So, in the last two years, we have exhibited the highest sense of humility, compassion, empathy and transparency. I know that if they trust their government, it will be very easy to lead them and I try as much as possible to be truthful in anything I say. If something is within my power to do, I will do it and if I cannot do it, I will come back to explain to Ekiti people why I have not been able to do it. So, we have exhibited trust as an ingredient of our politics.
The people know that when their Governor makes a promise, it may be late, it will be done.
To all leaders in the state, they are critical stakeholders and I need their help in one way or the other and I run to all of them for advice. Let me say that I don’t go to them as a politician, I go to them as Governor of the state and that makes it easy for them to relate with me. That is what is responsible for the peace we have in this state.
As a leader, I have chosen the path of peaceful coexistence with everybody, irrespective of political affiliations. It is a choice I have made; it has its own consequences and sacrifices but as long as the strategy translates to the development of our people, it makes me happy.
What are those consequences you faced with this decision as mentioned?
The price of people not accustomed to this style. You see some of our people telling me that I am not using my power. Some elements within my political party are also not comfortable with this posture. There have been a lot 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 backing and support of critical leaders in the party and party members are getting used to this style. Don’t forget it is a new style in our politics in Ekiti and some feathers might be ruffled, but I thank God that our people are getting used to it.
There have been waves of endorsement for a second term by different categories of people in the state and beyond including political leaders across board. When will you respond to all these people calling for you to contest again in 2026?
I am a highly spiritual person and the Bible says the race is neither for the swift nor the battle for the strong. My future is in the hands of God, but be that as it may, I am extremely grateful to those clamouring and wish we continue.
I see it as a vote of confidence in our administration. It also puts a lot of burden on us to do more, because apparently we must have done some things that make them say we should continue; so we must avoid a situation where people will wake up tomorrow and say they don’t want us again. We are just at the midterm of this administration and it is nice to hear all those things but I don’t want to be distracted and I will continue to do things that will make them say that. But our party has a process of electing who carries the flag of the party, the party will take a decision and whatever decision they take, it is okay by me. I thank God for this opportunity and my future is in the hands of God.
But there are feelers that some prominent APC members claiming to be close to the Aso villa are gearing up to contest against you. Are you worried by this?
People that know me will tell you that I don’t get worried about things like that. The reason why I am not worried is that the seat of the governorship of Ekiti state is open to all Ekiti indigenes that are qualified to aspire. I am not worried at all. When the time for politics comes, we will play it but for now I don’t want to be distracted.
No doubt, you will be commissioning some projects during this second year anniversary; we will like to know the state of work as regards the Ekiti State Cargo airport.
The Ekiti Airport is a work in progress. I think we are expecting the Ministry of Aviation and other regulatory agencies to give us the final certification. They have come here twice, and told us to do some adjustments which we have done and once the team comes here next month by the grace of God, and a clean bill from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and other regulatory agencies is given, we are good to go.
The airport is ready and I am a perfectionist and when it comes to 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 not as good as the one we have here, that is the truth.
By the time the Ekiti airport begins operations, you will be proud of what we have done in that place; it is going to be one of the best in the country. Hopefully, if we get the necessary approvals, we have two airlines that we are talking to and they are ready to begin operations. We are also trying to resolve the issue of accommodation for members of staff from the regulatory agencies; they have started posting workers here. Once that is sorted, everything will be in place and I have high hopes that the airport will begin operation before the end of the year because all the physical structures have been completed.
The control tower is there and of course the car park and the rest are almost done. Let me say that I am extremely grateful to our revered Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) for his support on the airport project because he has really assisted us beyond our expectation.
What about the access road to the airport which is currently not in good shape?
Don’t forget the road you are talking about is a federal road and it has been awarded by the Federal Executive Council and as of the last count, I was told that the Bureau of Public Procurement is to issue a certificate of no objection 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 Federal Government.
Your administration has invested in agriculture most importantly the ‘Bring Back Our Youth to Agric Initiative. What are the plans of the government in ensuring these programmes are of huge benefit to Ekiti?
It will shock you that those people that are coming to the state to park our yams and other produce are those that gave our farmers money to plant for them. When the Commissioner for Investment told me this, I wept because our farmers 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 and collect the proceeds later and just give them peanuts.
You can’t tell someone who has invested in a business not to make profit and that is why I said we are looking for money for them through cooperative societies, so that they can go to their cooperatives, take loans, plant and be in charge of prices when it is time 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 problem also is that most of our farmers have not joined cooperatives and it takes a lot of advocacy to change that orientation.
The Bring Back Our Youth to Agriculture is one programme I am very proud of and I must commend the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security 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 we trained them in partnership with a private sector.
We started with 930 youths in six clusters across the state and cumulatively they have cultivated more than 2,000 hectares of all sorts of crops ranging from maize to cassava to yam to beans to soya, to vegetables among others. I took it upon myself to go and see those farms and what they have done, I was shocked. But there are still challenges we need to confront and as I speak to you, there are people who are ready to put down their money to off take but my issue is that I don’t want those products to be taken outside Ekiti State.
Our plan is to off take, keep and release to the market next year when there is shortage but there is a challenge of where we are going to store them. The Silos we could have used were vandalised during #EndSARS protest, we even engaged the person in charge of the place to see how we can work together to rebuild, the person said the manufacturers have to do it themselves and they have not done it and we are nearing harvest season.
The fear from those in government is that if we store up anywhere in town, they can be looted. Should we sell and let our farmers have the money but it will defeat the aim of the project because it is to crash prices 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 farm produce.
Are you comfortable with the security situation in the state?
Am I comfortable? No! Has there been improvement? Yes. Going forward, we will continue to improve but unfortunately, I can’t discuss at length on this issue. I can assure you that there has been remarkable improvement except pockets of attacks on the soft targets like kidnappings, and herders’ crisis with farmers.
We are in constant discussion with the security chiefs and if you observe lately the issue we faced in Ado-Ekiti over killings of people, including Point of Sale (PoS) agents some time ago, have been nipped in the bud. I must use this medium to commend the security chiefs in Ekiti, they are working together in unison. I hope the Ekiti example is what others will study because they are working together and sharing intelligence and this has really helped us in the state.
“By the time the Ekiti airport begins operations, you will be proud of what we have done in that place; it is going to be one of the best in the country”
What is your administration’s plan for the people of the state on the issue 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, we are off the national grid; we get electricity from neighboring states and the Federal Government is trying to put in place two other sub-stations in Ilupeju-Ekiti and Ijesa Isu and they told me it is going to take two years to finish it.
The only one we have is the 33kva and there is a limit to how far it can radiate electricity.
So, we take electricity from Kwara, Kogi, and Osun States. When these states experience a downturn, they switch us off. On a daily basis, the number of megawatt coming to Ekiti is less than eight, and that is why we came up with the idea of the Independent Power Plant to increase the quantity of electricity available to Ekiti people.
Since we got to office, the Federal Ministry of Power has commended Ekiti as one of the states, if not the best, that has opened up rural areas to electricity. We have connected more than 30 communities that have not had electricity for over 10 to 15 years. But, when you do that too, a community that has had no electricity for 10 years, once you energise their transformer, it blows off.
The solution is for us to start generating electricity for ourselves, that is the most sustainable solution and we are talking to about three vendors. But, before that is done, we manage the 33 KVA sub-station we have here and also put pressure on the Federal Government to complete those being built in Ilupeju-Ekiti and Ijesa-Isu communities.
We are also exploring the possibilities of renewable energy but this requires a lot of study and once it is done it is going to be the combination of renewable energy and the hydro we have in the state. What I can tell you is that electricity in the state has improved because of the new electricity law we have signed; it has bailed us out from the monopoly of the BEDC which has led to the increase in the number of hours we are having electricity and with that law, I believe by next year, we will witness appreciable improvement in power supply to our people.
What will be the key priorities for your administration going forward?
We have used the last two years to lay a very solid foundation for economic growth and development of this state. We campaigned on the mantra of shared prosperity but the people will not prosper if we don’t put some things in place.
We have spent the last two years erecting the blocks for prosperity and the next year’s budget is going to address the issue of food security and welfare in Ekiti State. We are going to be deliberate in our efforts on agriculture and cater for the informal sector of the economy and the Small, 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 without infrastructure or not accessible and that is why the airport is key because a road leads to the next town, an airport leads to the world, that is the difference between an airport and a road.
From here you can take off and go to the United States but when you leave Ado here by road you will be going to Ikere or the next town. We have to open up the state and that is what the airport does. So, once we are able to get the airport operational, investors will come into the state.
We will scale up our intervention on security though it has improved tremendously. The next two years are to ensure that we scale up our intervention in agriculture and also create platforms for SMEs to thrive. We must make our economy productive because productivity is the key to prosperity.
