Oyebanji’s Victory Has Put to Rest Succession Jinx in Ekiti
Victor Ogunje writes that the 23 year-old succession jinx in Ekiti State has been broken with the weekend’s victory of Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as Governor-elect of the State
The Saturday, June 18, 2022 Governorship election in Ekiti state would forever remain indelible in the annals of history of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The day was momentous, not just for its Candidate, Hon Biodun Oyebanji, emerging victorious but surviving the winding and bumpy paths to get to the promised land remains a mystery.
The election was a fierce battle among 16 political parties, three of them with candidates that were strong and formidable. Biodun Oyebanji of the APC, Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bisi Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party PDP) were all experienced politicians who had held pivotal political positions in the state.
Going by their credentials, they all understand the dynamics of Ekiti politics and how best to navigate the path without being bruised. This accounted for why the election was highly intriguing and pulsating.
The most symbolic aspect of Oyebanji’s victory was that, he succeeded in breaking the succession jinx that had existed in Ekiti state since 1999. No incumbent governor had either succeeded in getting a second term or won elections back to back or installed a successor.
Looking at the trajectory of elections in Ekiti for over 23 years, each incumbent had suffered one calamity or the other that served as impediment to them producing a successor.
In 1999, Otunba Niyi Adebayo of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) failed in his second term bid. His successor, Ayodele Fayose was also impeached few months to the time he was to seek a second term. Governor Kayode Fayemi also failed in his re-election bid in 2014 in a calamitous fashion that portrayed his loss the worst failure ever recorded by any incumbent. He lost in all the 16 local government areas to the opposition. Also, all desperate bids and efforts by Fayose to instal a successor, Prof Olusola Eleka, in 2018 crashed.
The foregoing scenarios made Oyebanji’s victory enigmatic and highly rewarding. It was like breaking an uphill record and did “what Napoleon could not do at the battle of Waterloo”.
Oyebanji is one man that has been patient to withstand all the onslaughts against him. Right from the time he was the Secretary to the State Government under Governor Kayode Fayemi, some politicians who perceived him as a threat never game him a breathing space. He was seen as not being part of the nucleus of power-wielding ‘cabal’ around Fayemi tagged “tokantokan” in government. By providence, he got to the promised land and the rest is history. Even at the party’s level, the primary conducted by the Governor Abubakar Badaru-led committee on January 27, 2022, was rancorous and pulsating enough to destabilise him, but he remained undaunted and had his eyes fixed on the governorship seat.
It would be recalled that the governor-elect contested against heaveweight politicians like Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Hon Femi Bamisile, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and four others, who rejected the outcome of the primary and threatened fire and brimstone to abandon the party. One of them is still in court challenging the alleged shoddy conduct of the poll.
As stroppy as the situation seems to be, he survived the onslaughts and all the aggrieved aspirants with the exception of a few eventually worked for his victory. The seven enraged aspirants, had unanimously rejected his being elected as the candidate at the initial stage.
Another contending force against his governorship candidacy was the Southwest Agenda for Tinubu 2023 presidential aspiration called SWAGA, led by former Minister of Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye. The group has become a potent force in Ekiti and Southwest and its grouse with Oyebanji was that the primary didn’t go the way of Adeyeye, its leader. This triggered annoyance within its fold and the hoopla elicited by this persisted and remained unsettled up to the day of election.
When Oyebanji was about recovering from the zoning and primary crises fever, the issue of Third Force surged like a dreaded monster that would be difficult to tame. Oni, having felt disenchanted with the outcome of the primary election in the PDP defected to the SDP to realise his ambition.
The platform then served as a veritable political pedestal for the aggrieved and political warlords from the PDP and APC to seek refuge. That was why the force with which they coalesced into SDP was not only terrifying but quaked the APC to its foundation. The tremor the third force SDP generated in APC only subsided after the election.
In the build up to the primary, the politicians of Ekiti South extraction had amplified zoning of the Governorship ticket to the district, having not produced the governor since 1999. This was so amplified to the extent that it resonated across all the strata of the state. But Governor Fayemi was not swayed by the deafening noise. He stuck to his gun and picked Oyebanji from the Central, where the immediate past governor Ayodele Fayose hails from.
This particular action really enraged the politicians and contributed to the virulent opposition against his candidacy. The situation was further convoluted by the high number of Governorship aspirants from the zone who spoke with unanimity of purpose and posed as dogged and uncompromising fighters.
But Governor Fayemi maintained that he was not swayed by any zoning mantra. He said he had always believed in competence, commitment, honour and character as defining factors in leadership and these, he said, Oyebanji adequately possessed.
Going by the election result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Returning Officer, Prof Kayode Adebowale, who announced the results in Ado Ekiti, the APC candidate won 15 of the 16 Local Governments, while People’s Democratic Party candidate, Mr Bisi Kolawole won Efon Local government.
The APC governorship candidate polled an aggregate of 187, 057 votes to lead Chief Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, who came distant second with 82, 209 votes to emerge second, while Bisi Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party scored 67, 457 votes to emerge third. Making his pronouncement , Prof Adebowale said: “Mr Biodun Oyebanji, having scored the highest number of votes and won more than two-third of the election in 16 Local Government councils, is hereby declared winner”. That was the verdict and constitutional pronouncement that made Oyebanji the governor-elect.
The breakdown of the results declared further confirmed how impressive Oyebanji was in the just concluded election:
Ekiti South-West LG : APC – 9,679 ,PDP – 4474 and SDP – 4,577, Ekti West LG APC -15,202 ,PDP – 3,386 and SDP – 3,863, Efon LG APC – 4012, PDP – 6,303 and SDP – 339
Ijero LG APC – 13,754, PDP – 4897 and SDP – 5006, Ikere LG APC – 12,086, PDP – 3789 and SDP – 1943 , Ilejemeje LG APC – 4357, PDP – 1157 and SDP – 2344
In Irepodun Ifelodun LG APC – 13,125, PDP – 4,712 and SDP – 5010, Ise/ Orun LG APC – 8,074, PDP – 2,588 and SDP – 5,909, Moba LG APC – 11,609, PDP – 3530, and SDP – 4904.
Also, in Oye LG APC – 13396, PDP – 4122 and SDP – 3591, Ado LG APC – 23,831, PDP – 7,575 and SDP – 15,214, Ido/Osi LG APC – 10,321, PDP – 2,871 and SDP – 9,489, Emure LG APC – 7,728, PDP – 2,610 and SDP – 3,445.
In Ikole LG APC-16,417, PDP – 6,266 and SDP – 5,736, Gbonyin LG APC–11247, PDP–3,947 and SDP–4059 while in Ekiti East LG APC –12,099, PDP—5,230 and SDP—4982.
A vivid dissection of this election could convince anyone that litany of factors worked in Oyebanji’s favour in the just concluded electoral duel. One, he was the first indigenous politician to seek Governorship seat in Ekiti. The trio of Oni, Fayemi and Fayose were considered as “foreigners” and “technocrats” who knew a little about the local politics. The fact that APC harped and hammered on Oyebanji being a local politician gained traction among the populace and it worked out.
Most importantly, the local politicians, even across party lines perceived the governor-elect as one of them. They found him receptive and affable and this further buoyed his chances among the locals. It seems like the spirit of esprit de corps came to play.
The power of incumbency is also another factor to consider. The party deployed this in this election by way of conducting the widest political campaigns that touched every facet of the state, including the youth, market and women, teachers, civil servants, farmers and Okada riders, drivers and many others. The APC had over 50 campaign groups that only an incumbent could fund and network.
Again, the PDP led by Fayose , who ought to have given the APC a run for its money had been greatly emasculated through internal sqaubbles. Some of the politicians like Senator Duro Faseyi, Ambassador Dare Bejide, former Speaker Femi Akinyemi, immediate past Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, former Chief of Staff, Kayode Osho, Dipo Anisulowo and scores of others, who ought to stay within and fortify the major opposition party, had defected. This actually reflected in the outcome of the election. The PDP scored a paltry 67,457 votes to rank third. Even the SDP, fondly regarded as a third force defeated the PDP, widely regarded as the major opposition party.
The APC also had a deep financial war chest and strong stakeholders to prosecute the election. The party had allegedly outspent the other parties in vote trading that was openly perpetrated by all parties on election day.
Most exhilarating was the fact that 14 APC governors and the Presidential candidate of the party and Southwest APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and party bigwigs stormed Ekiti four days to election to campaign for the party. This was a serious impetus to party members as they were given messages of hope.
This astounding support came for APC at a time the PDP was practically abandoned. The PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and governors on the platform of the party never came to Ekiti to rally support for Bisi Kolawole. The party seemed abandoned and neglected under this context. It was like an orphan in this election.
Ardent followers of the political situations of Ekiti started having an inkling that APC might likely win on June 8, 2022 when former Lagos State Governor, Tinubu won the presidential primary. The people of Ekiti largely perceived Tinubu as the father of the Southwest politics and they revered him a lot. Again, the fact that Fayemi stepped down for him changed the rhythm and he started receiving accolades from unexpected quarters. This also brought some sympathy votes to APC.
Oyebanji knew the enormity of the load he is to shoulder to ensure that he build on the legacy set by Fayemi. He also knew the record-breaking victory would automatically came with a price and that will be for him to perform and do Ekiti proud and this reflected in his response to the resounding victory. Though, he basked in the euphoria of victory, but he took cognisance of one fact and that is being magnanimous by reaching out to all other candidates to seek their inputs and advice in the running of the state.
He said: “I, together with my Deputy governor-elect, Chief Mrs. Afuye, use this opportunity to express our gratitude to everyone who voted for us. We also recognise all those who did not vote for us, but whose participation in this important democratic ritual of the election enriched the process, especially with the gracious manner in which you accepted the outcome, and helped maintain the peace during and after the exercise. We are hopeful that though we did not have your vote at this time, we would earn your trust and cooperation as we begin the journey of keeping Ekiti working.
“I thank all other aspirants and their respective political parties for the dignified way they carried out their campaigns, and for contributing to the credibility of the process. I will be seeking audience with you all in the coming days, to benefit from your wealth of ideas on how to develop our dear state- to complement our vision and blueprint for the accelerated development of Ekiti. You have all performed creditably and earned places of honour in the history of our state.
“I use this opportunity to once again convey my condolences to the families of our kinsmen who died in the pockets of pre-election violence. I join my voice with that of all well meaning Ekiti Kete to the call for full investigations into the incidences and ensure justice is done.
“In the coming days and weeks, our great party and the incumbent Kayode Fayemi-administration would be working towards finishing well and strong, and completing key legacy projects. We are immensely proud of the legacy our mentor and leader would be leaving behind and thank him for his labour of love and sacrifice for the homeland. In the course of time, we would set-up a transition committee and ensure a seamless transition, and demonstrate our preparedness and clarity of vision with the effectiveness and efficiency with which we would hit the ground running on assumption of office.
“In the meantime, we would continue our consultations to seck more input into our blueprint for the state, and would in the coming days open formal channels through which you can send suggestions to us. We want to continue to listen to you and engage with you, so that as we have promised, together with you, we will keep Ekiti working”.
The way Oni sounded to the victory confirmed to Oyebanji that it is not yet uhuru. Oni had bluntly rejected the results of the Saturday’s governorship election, saying the outcome would be challenged in court.
Former Attorney General of the state, Owoseni Ajayi, while speaking on behalf of Oni, noted that the results as declared by INEC did not reflect the true decision of the people, lamenting that the process was marred by financial inducement.
Ajayi who refused to sign the election results said, “ we are rejecting the results because the election was characterised by violence and intimidation of voters and as a result, we will definitely challenge the outcome of these results in the court of law for prosterity and for generation coming to know that when conducting elections, you must follow the rules and procedures.”
The candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Dr Wole Oluyede, also lent his opposition voice to Oyebanji’s victory. He said cases of vote buying, alleged compromise on the part of INEC officials and indiscriminate arrest of opposition on election day rubbished and vitiated the outcome of the election.
Oluyede said what transpired today in Ekiti further substantiated that Nigerians were not ready and ripe for democracy.
According to him: “I didn’t think there was an election with what I saw today, it was a total sham. Security, INEC and everybody worked against the people. It was like INEC was instructed to disrupt the election. They didn’t start election until 10am in my unit.
“The INEC officials told me they didn’t have a stamp. They wanted the people to get into chaotic and fracas to reduce the voting. Everybody unlawfully arrested today are my people. The chairman of the Council was driving around and pointing to people to be arrested. Whatever the outcome of this election shows we are not ready for democracy.
“Those voters who were offered money were not given the chances to choose freely the right choice. The outcome doesn’t reflect the wish of the people”.
But reprieve came for Oyebanji in a letter dated June 19, 2022 , signed by Bisi Kolawole congratulating him on the resounding victory.
Kolawole in the letter addressed to Oyebanji said: “Following the announcement of your victory in the June 18 Ekiti Governorship Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, I hereby write to congratulate you accordingly.
“I believe that power belongs to God and He bestows upon whoever he chooses. I also believe in popular choice which is the unfettered expression of the peoples mandate as one of the crucial hallmarks of democratic principle and practice.
Democracy must therefore deliver to the people dividends of security or protection and enhance their social welfare and well-being basically, and among other deliverables.
“These were the motivation for my own ambition in the governorship of Ekiti state which I feel strongly to reiterate here in view of the precarious situations of our people at the moment.
“Please take urgent actions aimed at redressing the plights of our people when you fully assume the mantle shortly.
“Finally,I wish you the guidance of the almighty God in the onerous task ahead. Congratulations to your spouse and also running mate”.
Also, the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his Kebbi State counterpart, Senator Atiku Bagudu, have hailed Ekiti electorate for electing the Candidate of the APC, Hon. Biodun Oyebanji, in last Saturday’s poll.
The governors maintained that Oyebanji’s victory buttressed the fact that Ekiti electorate were sophisticated enough to identify and went for the best and most sellable candidate.
Fayemi, described the victory as exciting, applauding President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) for their immense support during the electoral battle.
He said: “We work hard, we planned and pulled all the strings because Ekiti is the precursor for our coming victories in 2023 and Osun States and this is because we have a sellable product. His trajectory has always been to make Ekiti better and this victory will be to the benefit of Ekiti people.
“With him in the saddle, you may not likely see any abandoned project in our dear state. I really thank Ekiti people for investing this confidence in our party. They have never done it before. Our people believe in turn by turn, but that has changed now.
“I know that Oyebanji won’t give Ekiti any cause to regret. All we will do is to live up to the expectations of Ekiti people and Nigerians by making Ekiti a cynosure of all eyes and best destination of choice for investors and for people who are looking for a safe haven”.
Fayemi also lauded the INEC for improving on its track records, saying what happened in Ekiti was like a miracle, taking cognisance of the serenity and calmness that pervaded the atmosphere during the election.
On his part, Governor Bagudu, who went down memory lane, revealed that for APC to have won the election with over 100,000 vote margin compared to less than 20,000 recorded in 2018 confirmed how well Fayemi has done in improving the lives of the populace.
His words: “Victory is sweet but we still have to be humble in it. In 2018, Governor Fayemi won the candidate of the PDP with less than 20,000 votes. But this time, the governor-elect beat his nearest rival with over 100,000 votes.
“Four years ago, the major opposition won in four local governments, but that has been narrowed to only a local government.
“That shows that from 12 local government we won in 2018 now APC won 15. This could not have happened if not for the good works done by Governor Fayemi and for the sellable candidate we paraded.
“We thank the people of Ekiti State for recognising our contributions and for rewarding us with this victory”.
Urging Oyebanji to perceive the victory as a call to service, Bagudu added: “Your character was rewarded by somebody who trusted in your capacity to serve. There are others that are capable, but he trusts in your capacity and character to step into his shoe.
“We congratulate you on your election. Today’s victory is a window to 2023, and the feat our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu may likely achieve. May God gives you the wherewithal to be able to deliver for Ekiti citizens”, he said.
In the same vein, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo has congratulated the winner of Saturday Governorship Election in Ekiti State, Mr Biodun Oyebanji and the All Progressive Congress (APC) on their success in the election.
The Minister also lauded the people of the State for their peaceful conduct, saying they have showed the whole world that Nigeria’s democracy has matured. He congratulated the incumbent Governor of the State , Dr Kayode Fayemi, for the success of APC in the election.
According to him, the outcome of the election was the people’s verdict on his performance in the last three and half years, which put the state on the path of steady progress and development
The first Civilian Governor of the State praised other contestants in the election for abiding by the rules of the game and allowing Ekiti people to make their decision on who should be their next governor. He called on them to accept the outcome of the election and team up with Oyebanji to continue the good work of the incumbent governor.
