Ekiti APC Fault Oyebanji’s Second-Term Race

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, secong term race appears to be raising dust in the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.

Some concerned elders and youths of APC in the state, led by Chief Olaofe Adeniran,  accused Oyebanji “of showing disdain, disrespect and flagrant disobedience to President Bola Tinubu and the APC National Working Committee by setting up a 24-member committee for his emergence as the adopted candidate of the party for the 2026 governorship election”.

According to the group, the formation of a 24-member committee—known as the BAO State Endorsement Committee and chaired by former Deputy Governor Abiodun Aluko—was a clear attempt by Oyebanji to impose himself as the party’s candidate.

The group said the governor’s actions defy President Tinubu’s repeated calls for internal party democracy and could cost the APC its hold on the state.

But the Publicity Secretary of the Ekiti APC, Segun Dipe, dismissed the claims of the group, saying the endorsement committee was set up by stakeholders and not the governor.

Some stakeholders in the state had on Saturday set up a committee tagged, “BAO (Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji) State Endorsement Committee”, headed by a former Deputy governor, Abiodun Aluko, saying that “the Oyebanji government has made remarkable progress and impact in the lives of Ekiti people which have practically silenced opposition voices within the state, with leading opposition figures praising and supporting the governor”.

But the concerned elders and youths, in a statement on Monday, accused Oyebanji of “closing the democratic space against eligible and competent party members in violation of the party’s guidelines and President Tinubu’s directive on adherence to internal party democracy”.

They called on Tinubu; APC National Chairman, Umar Ganduje; and other national leaders to caution Oyebanji in order  to avoid an unpleasant backlash that could cost the party the state especially with Tinubu’s declaration on internal democracy within the party and his insistence that APC must conduct free, fair and transparent primaries for all elective offices.

The concerned elders and youths expressed surprise at what they described as the premature action of self-succession of the governor, “especially when the Independent National Electoral Commission had not issued any directive in this regard”