A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti state, YemiA yeni, in this interview says the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji has no formidable opponent to beat him in the 2026 gubernatorial poll. He said the governor is only contesting to fulfil constitutional requirements. Adedayo Akinwale brings excerpts:
How do you rate Governor AbiodunOyebanji’s performance in the last three years?
It’s actually three years now, and I try as much as possible to be modest in terms of Oyebanji’s achievement. And to be candid with you, all the previous governors have tried their best. They’ve contributed their quota to the development of Ekiti state. But Governor Oyebanji has taken the monumental development a step forward, that has never happened in the history of Ekiti state, and this has been impressive, and that is what is attracting most of us to him, and I must tell you personally, I give him kudos on this.
The APC has scheduled the primary election for October 27, considering the crisis within the party in the state, what are his chances?
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I don’t think there is any crisis in the APC. I’m a member of APC and I’m a stakeholder. There is no crisis. You know, when the election is coming, you have different interests. That is what is happening in APC, and I don’t think it is significant with the number of people behind BiodunOyebanji. I can say that BiodunOyebanji is the only aspirant for now, others are social media aspirants.
What mode of primary would you prefer the party adopts for the conduct of the primary election in Ekiti state?
When you are on ground, you are on ground. I don’t think of any option if they want to do primary Option A4, which is direct primary or indirect primary by using delegates, we are far ahead of anybody coming out to contest with Oyebanji.
I don’t see anybody contesting with him. Go to all the wards, look at all the leaders, look at all the stakeholders, look at all the party members, they are behind him. I can bet it with you, there is nobody contesting with Oyebanji that can win a ward.
But most of his opponents have been saying the people of Ekiti are yearning for change because the governor has not delivered on his campaign promises.
Who are the people of Ekiti? Are we not the people of Ekiti? The only person that I can see that have been contesting serially is a man, and it’s not the time for him, because all the party members have accepted Oyebanji. It is only to satisfy the constitutional requirement, that is why Oyebanji is going for the the primary. If not, because of constitutional requirements, we will be dancing and singing out that hallelujah Oyebanji has won. I can tell you boldly that BiodunOyebanji will score about 99 per cent.
There are speculations that the governor and his predecessor, Dr. KayodeFayemi are at loggerheads, and considering the fact that the election that brought him in was due to the alignment between Fayemi and former Governor Ayo Fayose, don’t you think the disagreement between them now will scuttle his chances?
It is propaganda. What we read in the newspaper is different for what is happening. I don’t think there is any problem. We had stakeholders’ meeting three weeks ago and Fayemi was there. He’s still a member of APC, former Governor NiyiAdedayo is a member of APC. It’s only Fayose that is not a member of APC, but as a former governor of Ekiti state, he is a statesman, and he’s still supporting Governor Oyebanji. If you look at all the leaders, irrespective of their political affiliation and background, they are all behind the governor. How do you want such a person to lose the election when everybody is behind him?
With the coming on board of ADC as a coalition party, as a member of the APC, what are your fears concerning the Ekiti state governorship election?
I will only advise them (ADC) to get themselves together first before contesting.
I don’t see them as a threat. You can mark my word, the election is like a walkover. APC will beat anybody that comes out from any party. The margin will be so wide, note my word. ADC is not a party that is serious. Look at the structure, look at the hegemony, look at the hierarchy, look at their leaders, they are not serious at all. We are all political beings, we know how things are being done. Are they ready? Even, look at the leadership of ADC, there is a problem there. Some are claiming to be the leaders of the party, some are saying no, and they are in and out of court every day. And you think those people are ready to snatch the governance from us? It’s not possible.
The economic policies of President Bola Tinubu have practically inflicted more problems on Nigerians, and people are beginning to look for alternatives. Do you think APC come 2027, will still be the party in power.
Anybody who’s a student of economics will look at this and look at the effectiveness and efficacy of policies. There are some policies that are of a long time far-reaching effects, while some have short time effects. When you look at all the policies that President Tinubu has been doing, they have long term effect. Do you know the amount of the exchange rate as of today now? It was going up before, but it has started coming down. As at today, a pound is less than N2,000, something that was at N2,400 in the last few months. Look at other areas of the economy, the government is doing something. There must be pain before you gain. That is what is happening and anything that is going on smoothly like that, we should be very skeptical about it. But when it is painful, it’s like you are having a boil on your body, when it is paining you, it is a time to bust.
Lately, there has been a lot of defections into the APC. Are you not worried that the ruling party might be heading towards implosion?
It is normal when you are approaching any election, there will be disgruntled elements, there will be people who are not happy with what is going on and there might be people who might have considered themselves as marginalised or disadvantaged. Definitely they want to go to where they will have their food. That is what is happening. It’s common, it’s natural, but I must tell you, where is the opposition? Are they ready? All of them have interests that they are protecting, and if they cannot get the interest protected, they leave or they don’t work for the party. All of them want to be the president, look at all of them, I don’t want to mention names, but look at all of them. If they cannot get that personal or selfish interest protected, they move and they don’t support the party.
On the security situation in the country, when the President came in, it appeared he was getting hold of the security situation. But now things are spiraling out of control. You can see what is happening in the North-west, now Kwara is another epic center of insecurity. What do you think the Tinubu administration is not doing right in terms of security?
The body language of a leader matters when you are combating security threats. Before President Bola Tinubu came in, we all knew what was happening in the country. Everybody was afraid. But now everybody can go to that room or to that bed, sleep with their two eyes. The recent issue in Kwara state, there is no way you will not have spontaneous security threat, and it now bounces back to the leadership to be responsive to that threat. That is what has happened. If we want to be sincere with ourselves, you will know that the security apparatus in Nigeria are working to combat any security threat in Nigeria.
Some people are already calling on the President to reshuffle or to change his Service Chiefs. Do you agree with that sentiment?
To be candid with you, I’m not a security expert but I know that the President has capable hands to look at the issue. He has experts to look at the issue. If it is to reshuffle the service chiefs’ circle, I think the President will do that. But to be candid with you, security is not what you use fire-brigade approach to do, otherwise you will have yourself to blame. It needs a tactical and strategic approach towards it, and that is what the President is doing.
As we approach the 2027 elections, the INEC chairman’s tenure will soon be ending. Who do you think the president should appoint that will improve the electoral system in the country?
There are qualities that someone who is heading an umpire like that should have: sincerity, objectivity and the effectiveness.
I think there are many people that are qualified to be chairman of INEC in Nigeria, and you know the President is the President of the country. He has been in the system for long. He knows someone who can do it better that he would be able to write his name in gold. And if you know President Tinubu, he is someone that has the wherewithal to know the best thing to do in the country. And he’s doing it, and believe me, someone who is very competent will emerge.
Do you still have trust in the electoral body to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in 2027?
Yea! Do you know one thing in Nigeria is that when a system doesn’t favour us, we condemn it, that is the problem in Nigeria. But when the system favours an individual, the person claps. As at today, the umpire, which is the INEC, is still the institution that is overseeing the electioneering in Nigeria and the system is sustaining itself. It’s only the chairman, or any electoral officers that could go or come in. But as at today, that is the only umpire we have, and it’s doing well. There is no way you can have a perfect system, especially in Nigeria with our electoral approach to any election.
As a lawyer, people have been calling for a separate court for the adjudication of electoral matters. What’s your take on that?
As a lawyer, I agree with them, because even the Supreme Court is overburdened, our courts are overburdened. People have been calling, experts in legal jurisprudence, they’ve been calling for separate or special courts to be handling…(electoral matters). You see, there are many cases and if you see other matters that are being in court, it takes years for them to get to the Supreme Court.
But when election matters come in, you must get it sorted within a short period. So it takes priority over other cases. I think if there is a special court, they will be dealing with that and other courts, the traditional courts, will be less burdened about the issue of election.
At the national level, there are still concerns within the APC. And from all indications, the President wants DrRabiuKwankwaso to join the party, which is against the interest of DrAbdullahiGanduje. How do you think the party can best deal with the issue?
If you look at (Abdullahi) Ganduje is a factor to reckon with. If you look at (Rabiu) Kwankwaso, he is also a factor to reckon with. When you have the two of them on your side, it’s good to go.
Do you see the two working together?
Definitely, this is politics. Even if they don’t like each other, they will sit down together and bury some issues between them in order to move the party forward. The party interest matters, and when you have all of them in the same camp you know what it means.
Q – So why do you think your monarch considered you for a chieftaincy title?
This is not the first time they will be considering me for chieftaincy title, I have had about three or four but I have not accepted. But this one, I think they are giving me “Aare Bamofin of IgedeEkiti”, which is related to my profession. So I think I will be taking this one.
On why I was nominated, I think service to humanity has been part of me, and I do it, not within my constituency, It’s outside the constituency. I have people I am sponsoring in the university and so on. So I think this is what our people are seeing. Yoruba will say “eniti o badara la nfij’oyelawujo’’ (it’s only good individuals that are recognised for chieftaincy titles). So I think that’s what they are saying and I appreciate it for recognising me for the chieftaincy titles here and here that they have been asking me to come.
