Is Ekiti gov without opposition?

BY the letters of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Governor ‘Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) is the fourth  Executive Governor of Ekiti State. All former governors in the State, including the one not recognized by the constitution tried their best, and kudos to them all!  This piece is not to criticize but to take a closer look at how the State is being run in the absence of a viable opposition. The role of the opposition party is not to wage war against the government but to ensure that the government does not take a step that might have negative effects on the people or to check the excesses of the ruling party. In Ekiti State, opposition members are rather taking appointments from the governor and those who do not take appointments are in open friendship with the government.  The Ekiti governor is using his political experience and native intelligence to woo more supporters across all political parties. He understands that unresolved issues in the People’s Democratic Party led some members of the party to SDP during the last gubernatorial election. The majority of those who decamped from PDP to SDP had either openly or secretly returned to their erstwhile party. Therefore, PDP remains the leading opposition party in Ekiti but the party is very weak now.

The camaraderie between the governor and former governor Ayodele Fayose, whom some PDP’s faithful are disassociating themselves from is making the governor have more supporters in the party. As of today, all lovers of Fayose are supporters of Governor Oyebanji. When Ekiti State was carved out of Ondo State in 1996, no one thought the state would be governed by a man who would be on the seat for almost two years and there won’t be noise from the opposition.  During the tenure of Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, the PDP was on the ground and there were criticisms here and there from the opposition. Adebayo was eventually defeated by the PDP in the 2003 governorship election in the state. The first tenure of Fayose was a war as members of the main opposition party in the State, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) criticized every step taken by his administration. His academic qualifications were challenged in a court of law by the party.

They were on his neck all through and they were the happiest when he was removed from office on 16th October 2006.  There was no peace in the political space of Ekiti during the tenure of Engr. Segun Adebayo Oni. Every policy of the administration was condemned by the opposition throughout. The opposition party believed the election that made him governor was marred by irregularities. He was challenged in court and the court-ordered rerun election in 2009. May the State not witness such again. The rerun was a war because the two main political parties did not agree with each other. Oni again declared the winner of the election but lost the legal battle to the opposition in 2010 as the Appeal Court in Ilorin declared his opponent as the winner of the rerun election.

Between 2010- 2014, it is on record that there was a viable opposition in Ekiti State. It was during this time that a prominent member of PDP,  Lere Olayinka, was arrested. The governor of Ekiti during this period, Dr. Kayode Fayemi did not enjoy what BAO is enjoying now. He was rejected in 2014 by the Ekiti people because there was opposition in the state then. The second tenure of Fayose was not left out. Members of the Ekiti House of Assembly dominated by the APC members attempted to impeach him but failed. They shook the government until their tenure expired. All policies of the administration were condemned by the opposition. APC wrestled power from the PDP in 2018. At the beginning of the second tenure of Fayemi, oppositions were seen talking about the flaws of the government but his government benefitted a lot from the internal wranglings among the leaders of PDP. He was able to run his government without hues and cries from the opposition.

Since Fayemi left office, the narrative of Ekiti politics has changed because the person who took over from him does not see himself as the governor of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) but as someone governing the entire sons and daughters of Ekiti State. Even before his inauguration, BAO visited all relevant stakeholders in the State. He won so many hearts with this singular action. Another governorship election will be conducted in Ekiti in 2026 but what some opposition members are saying is BAO for a second term. This is the first time I will see the opposition conceding defeat on an election whose date has not yet been fixed, not to talk of being conducted. The governor must have done something to lure his perceived opponents to his fold. He must have done what past governors in the state did not know how to do.

Let me conclude this piece by asking the following questions: Is BAO perfect? Can we check this superman excesses? Is Ekiti not on the verge of slavery?  Or lastly, can we say Ekiti is okay with one party system in this modern- day democracy?

• Alonso writes from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, via [email protected]

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