Ekiti 2026: Pan-Yoruba groups adopt Oyebanji for second term

Ahead of the Governorship Election, holding in Ekiti next year, a coalition of 130 pan -Yoruba groups, under the aegis of Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movements, (AYDM), has adopted Governor Abiodun Oyebanji for a second term in office, describing the governor as a beacon of hope not just for Ekiti State but for the entire Yoruba Nation and Nigeria at large. 

AYDM gave the endorsement on Thursday, in a communique issued at the end of its well attended parley, which held in Ikeja, Lagos, saying that the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Oyebanji had made the Yoruba proud, just as he noted that his support for regional integration was remarkable. 

AYDM is the largest coalition of civil society, community-based and pan- Yoruba groups in the old Western Region, including Kogi, Kwara and some parts of Delta and Edo states.

Speaking at the parley attended by Comrade Popoola Ajayi, Rasak Arogundade, Wasiu Afolabi, among others, the Guest Speaker, Comrade Adewale Adeoye, while describing the Ekiti helmsman as a beacon of hope for the entire country, expressed AYDM’s satisfaction with the governor’s achievements in the state now in his first term in office.

Adeoye noted that Oyebanji, whom he said epitomises Omoluabi, had built milestones in education, road construction, public health, agriculture and ensure transparency in governance, pointing out that AYDM adopted the governor to strengthen a uniform political outlook of the people in the South West region. 

According to him, such decision “is in the strategic interest of a people with one history, one culture and one civilisation to have a uniform political aspiration” in order to strengthens regional integration and sustainable development.

Adeoye, said in arriving at the decision, AYDM had conducted extensive research spanning three weeks on the social, political and economic developments in Ekiti State, noting that despite the limited resources available, Governor Oyebanji had not been deterred “from deepening democracy and transforming the state excellently.”

He expressed AYDM’s resolve to work and ensure massive, overwhelming and decisive victory for Oyebanji in the forthcoming governorship election, saying that the coalition had instructed all it’s affiliate members across the South West to prepare for mass mobilisation for the second term of the Ekiti State governor.

“That as soon as the ban on the 2027 Campaign is lifted, all affiliate members should begin house-to-house, door-to-to campaign to ensure victory for Mr. Abiodun Oyebanji with a percentage  never before seen in Ekiti electoral history,” the communique said.

AYDM, a coalition of 130 pan-Yoruba groups, has membership, including South West Professional (SOWPROF), O’odua Peoples Congress (OPC-New Era), Yoruba Communities in West Africa (YOCWA), O’odua Peoples Congress (OPC Reformed), Agbekoya, South West Farmers Forum (SWFAF), United Itsekiri Peoples Congress (UIPC), ANAMMACO, representing Okada all Riders in the South West; South West Students Coalition (SWSC), O’odua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC), Yoruba Community Association in Northern Nigeria (YOCANN), Ilaje Peoples Assembly, Igbimo Omo O’odua in Diaspora, Afenifere Progressive Youth Movement, (APYM), among others.

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