Ekiti 2026: Election or coronation?

I read somewhere that the PDP candidate in the forthcoming Ekiti State governorship election, Oluwole Oluyede, warned that the election, slated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Saturday, 20 June, 2026, should not be seen as “a mere coronation” of the incumbent governor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji aka BAO – but it looks every inch exactly that! Oluyede must have meant that the opposition candidates already given the all-clear by INEC to contest the Ekiti election would give Oyebanji a run for his money. But that appears, in my view, a pipe dream.

Revving its machine and putting all preparations in top gear, INEC announced the accreditation of 98 observer groups – two of them foreign – made up of “civil society groups, professional bodies and institutions with expertise in election observation, governance, human rights, gender advocacy, youth development and peace-building.” The purpose is to shore up public confidence in INEC as well as enhance the credibility of the election. Serving as watchdogs, election observers help to hold the feet of everyone involved in the conduct of elections to the fire with a view to ensuring that elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere and that the outcome respects the wishes of the electorate.

Can Amupitan walk the talk?

The new INEC chairman (he must have started growing grey hairs by now!), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (what’s in a name?), has declared the Ekiti election – and that of Osun State that will follow a few months later – as the “litmus test” of his leadership. They will also serve as a preview of the 2027 General Elections. Elections in Nigeria have, from time immemorial, been dogged by controversies and acrimonies about their credibility, usually with allegations and counter-allegations of rigging and the subversion of the people’s will. No election boss has escaped unscathed.

Amupitan promises to be different, but whether he will walk the talk remains to be seen. Whichever way it goes for him, his name will tell a story. I suspect that “Amupitan” means “Ohun-a-mu-p’itan”, shortened into Amupitan or Pitan. It means “Something or a name that tells a story.” Which story remains to be seen! Like me, Amupitan also has a name he brought from heaven – Ojo. Ojos have their inimitable oriki and character traits. I will watch out and wait for Amupitan in that regard!

I expect the Ekiti election to be an easy run for Amupitan for many reasons. One is that the field is not crowded with strong candidates. Elections are more difficult to run in places with multiple strong candidates pulling in different directions. Ekiti used to be in that category but, in my own reckoning, that is not the case this time around for reasons we shall soon enumerate.

APC, the ruling party in the state, is also the ruling party at the Centre; so the power of incumbency, backed up by the ubiquitous “Federal might”, requires a tsunami to upstage it. The momentum, loaded in favour of the incumbent, is, conversely, stacked against his opponents.

Nigeria’s fractious opposition parties

The other parties in the Ekiti election are seriously weakened as well as distracted by factionalisation, fragmentation, and litigation. Therefore, they are not likely to approach the coming election from a position of strength and, as they say, a house divided against itself…

READ ALSO: Ekiti 2026: Don’t underrate other parties, Fayemi tells APC members

While Oyebanji, the APC flagbearer, enjoys the power of incumbency, he also has the staunch support and backing of his party at the national level. APC is the only party of note standing rock solid at the moment. This is a combination that will take more than the strength of Hercules and the endurance of Atlas to overcome. With the absence of father figures who, as we speak, are consumed by their own battles – be it PDP, ADC, Labour or NNPP – the Ekiti opposition candidates are likely to march into the gubernatorial contest like political orphans. Making a mincemeat of them should not be too tedious a job for Oyebanji to accomplish.

Ekiti and its troublesome elections

I have witnessed tough elections in Ekiti. Which Nigerian political observer will easily forget the Ido-Osi saga? Or of “Rookie” Ayo Fayose challenging and beating Niyi Adebayo, the incumbent Alliance for Democracy governor in 2003? The same Fayose, however, was later run out of town and into exile towards the tail end of his first term of office by maximum ruler, President Olusegun Obasanjo. What of the epic battle between the “usurper”, Gov. Segun Oni, and his challenger, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, which the courts eventually resolved in Fayemi’s favour? Ironically, Oni remains one of the most humanist governors produced so far by Ekiti. Fayose returned from exile to deny incumbent Gov. Fayemi a straight second term in office, walloping him in a 16-0 landslide victory orchestrated, according to reports, by the “Federal might” of the PDP administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which Fayose enjoyed!

On his way out of office, Fayose tried to play the Bourdillon game (if you understand what I mean!) by choosing and imposing on his party a successor in the person of Professor Kolapo Olubunmi Olusola Eleka, but by this time, the power configuration had changed. While Fayose was the incumbent governor, power at the national level had slipped through the fingers of the PDP and the APC were the new sheriffs in town. Fayemi, eager to have not just a second term in office but also his pound of flesh, vacated office as a Minister of the Federal Republic to contest the Ekiti governorship election in 2018.

Backed by “Federal might”, Fayemi not only won the election, he did so also in style, returning the same 16-0 margin he had suffered at the hands of Fayose four years earlier, hence that election was nicknamed “return match”! Same “Federal might” and same margin of victory and loss!

Oyebanji’s strength

To be fair to him, Oyebanji in his own personal recognition has a lot going for him for reasons which I will now adduce. From my investigation, his approval rating by Ekiti indigenes, home and away, hovers between 75 and 80%. He is said to have performed as a governor. Someone I had expected to be critical of the governor surprised me when he said if the foundation laid by Oyebanji and the pace of development he has set is followed by successive governors after him, Ekiti could be out of the woods within a generation! That, in my opinion, is massive.

Oyebanji’s personality traits also endear him to many. Another person I interviewed told me: “Once you have seen the gentility and have witnessed the humility of Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye aka Daddy G.O., exactly so is BAO!” I recall that I once saw a photograph of Oyebanji prostrating full blast for Aare Afe Babalola. When two Ekitiobas were killed by bandits in January 2024 and I was on a delegation that visited Ekiti to commiserate with the government and people of the state, the carriage of the governor was like that of a monk!

After group photographs, I approached Oyebanji and asked him why he and his counterparts in the South-west were not taking advantage of existing laws on Forest Guards to arrest the ugly tide of banditry and terrorism ravaging the region. I told him, if in doubt, to contact Femi Falana, SAN, who is also an Ekiti son from Ilawe-Ekiti. Falana’s advocacy on the issue had caught my attention. Oyebanji confirmed that the South-west governors were aware of the law and were only waiting to accord their fallen colleague, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu of Ondo State, who had just passed on, a befitting burial before meeting to take action on the matter. True to his words, Oyebanji was one of the first state governors to implement the Forest Guards initiative in the country – in March 2024.

Who is a monk? Google says they are “traditionally characterised by gentleness, humility, and disciplined nonviolent living, embodying values of compassion and peace. These traits are cultivated through spiritual practice, mindfulness, and, in many traditions, deliberate vows to walk with humility, such as the 12 steps found in the Rule of St. Benedict.” Gov. Oyebanji fits the bill!

Godfathers and godsons are fighting everywhere but not in Ekiti. Oyebanji has not only maintained a cordial relationship with his predecessors of differing political persuasions, he has also been able to navigate the shark-infested waters of the alleged frosty relationship between his presumed godfather and Bourdillon.

How Oyebanji has managed to have all the former governors of the state in his corner is a marvel. Men with ego; men with loyalties to different political parties; and men with insatiable appetites! Nothing demonstrates BAO’s political sagacity more than the commissioning in December last year of the state’s cargo airport when all the former governors of the state honoured Oyebanji with their presence.

Ekiti is also one state where the ruling party is not factionalised and where the Executive and the Legislative arms of government are not at daggers drawn. BAO has had no running battles with traditional rulers in his state, unlike some other states in the same South-west zone. The unions are also at peace with him.

An enviable scorecard

I am not from Ekiti and I do not vote in Ekiti, but because of my conviction that Gov. Oyebanji has performed above par in his first term of office, I wholeheartedly and without reservations endorse and recommend him to the Ekiti electorate for a second term of office.

Oyebanji’s administration has been farmer- and student-friendly; it has disbursed improved bursary and scholarship awards; has given out billions of naira as credit to small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs; has constructed hundreds of kilometres of township and rural roads; has improved the healthcare delivery system and completed the renovation of hundreds of secondary and primary schools across the state. Its “Bring Back the Youths into Agriculture” initiative is revolutionary. In a polity where corruption struts like a colossus and opaqueness defines government operations, BAO’s Ekiti ranked Number One in the BudgIT State Transparency League for five consecutive quarters (Q2, Q3, Q4 2024 and Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 2025). This, again, is massive.

Our people are not taskmasters; so they do not ask for the moon from their leaders. They know enough not to muzzle the ox that treads the grain. But they also understand that enikan o kii je kiilufe. Our people demand moderation and respect from their leaders. They want to see evidence that things are moving in the right direction and that they are not simply being taken for a ride, as had been the case again and again in Ekiti.

If that was a jinx, I dare to say that BAO broke it! And one good turn, as they say, deserves another! So, leekansii for BAO!