Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has revealed that some people and leaders in the state were not comfortable with his style of governance due to his determination to always tell the truth to the citizens.
Oyebanji, who lamented that the people have been used to the era of their political leaders telling lies to deceive them, added he would remain committed to his campaign promises towards enhancing the socio-economic development of the state.
The Governor spoke in Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area, on Monday while giving an account of stewardship at a stakeholders’ engagement programme marking his 300 days in office.
He appealed to the Ekiti people not to put undue pressure and demands on the newly appointed commissioners and Special Advisers, stressing that such could prevent them from coming to their constituencies regularly as true representatives of the people.
Oyebanji also declared that his government had expended a sum of N213 million to lift 2,600 indigent citizens from poverty under the social investment component of his administration within the last 100 days.
According to him, “I want you to remember me as your leader who does not lie to you.
I will be dealing with you with all sincerity and truthfulness, but unfortunately, our people don’t like the truth. People confronted me about the fact that politicians don’t always say the truth, but I told them to blame my parents for that because my father thought I should always tell the truth, and it is too late for me to learn how to lie.
“What I can’t do, I will tell you I can’t do it, and because I always say the truth, many people are not happy with it. I am sorry that is how it will be; I have no apology for it.
“I will continue to tell the truth so that when I leave this place, people will remember me as the governor who tells the truth at all times.”
Dispelling the fear being nursed by some concerned citizens that the new appointees could slow down his pace of performance with their politicking, the Governor said the new appointees are coming with additional values to the government, adding that rather than slow down the pace of work, the public should expect a greater level of performance.
“The new commissions are coming from different backgrounds and diverse levels of expertise. We are still going to do much more than what we have done. If we can do all these in eight months without a full cabinet, we should be able to do two of these in four years.
“My cabinet members must hear this; our people said I am doing well because my Commissioners, who are politicians, have not been brought on board.
But I want to say that they don’t have any other choice but to do well. But don’t put unnecessary pressure on them. We should know that a political appointment is a position of responsibility.
“When pressure is put on them, they will be dodging and will not want to come home.
But these cabinet members are ready and willing, and they have the firepower and experience to do well. I have implicit confidence in them that they can only join us and deliver for our people.
“We must know that we contested the last election and won with APC as a vehicle, and our members need to be very careful to remain in government.
They must not take our people for granted or misbehave with them,” he said.
In the area of security, Oyebanji rued the reported cases of kidnappings around the Imesi-Ode-Omuo axis, saying the Amotekun Corps had been restructured to rise to the occasion of ensuring peace and security across all the towns in Ekiti.
He urged traditional rulers to collaborate with the new leadership of Amotekun Corps and other security agencies in the state to rid the state of criminal elements.
Giving an explicit breakdown of the fund expended on social security, Oyebanji said his government spent a humongous sum of N96 million on 600 persons under the Ekiti State Livelihood Grant component, and N117 million benefited from the Ekiti State Cash Transfer Unit to salvage the poorest of the poor from excruciating poverty.
He said he has released a cumulative sum of N800 million to tertiary institutions as subvention arrears, while he paid N400 million to defray outstanding obligations to State Universal Basic Education Board contractors.
In the area of infrastructure and industrialisation, known as the backbones and pivots of any economy, Oyebanji said his government would be strategic in reconstructing and rehabilitating roads, assuring that only roads with high proclivities to drive his prosperity agenda would be accorded attention.
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