By Ọmọọba Olusesan Alabi
On October 16, 2026, Ekiti State will host an event that effectively alters the historical trajectory of the state’s leadership. When Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, (BAO), steps forward to take the oath of office for a second term, it will signify much more than a routine inauguration. Since the creation of Ekiti State in 1996, the state’s political landscape has been notoriously volatile. No democratically elected chief executive has ever broken the “one-term jinx” by succeeding themselves directly in office. Elections in the past had been full of inter-party rivalries and sudden shifts in power frequently resulting in abandoned projects and fractured governance.
The inauguration will be the first in the annals of Ekiti when a serving governor will be sworn in to succeed himself himself. He will be the first to drive straight from Oke Ayoba Governor’s Lodge as an outgoing governor and drive back as the new governor on the same day. As it has never happened in like fashion before, a new name has been given to him. Oyebanji is now called the Jinx breaker. A cleric referred to him recently as “Koseleri” of Ekiti. Koseleri means one who has dabbled into and succeeds in what no man has done before.
By securing a consecutive term, Governor BAO secures a unique position in Ekiti’s contemporary history. This second inauguration crowns a series of unprecedented electoral, judicial, and developmental milestones. But it will not be the only time that BAO scores a first. In almost four years, he has written his name in indelible ink as one who excels where others have not by novel achievements across the state’s socio-political and economic landscape. We are going to look at a few of these.
Governor Oyebanji’s path to re-election was defined by several historic electoral achievements. His election as Governor four years ago, was the first time a political party (the All Progressives Congress) would have a back-to-back win. Now BAO’s win signifies a continuity of a party’s consecutive rule for three terms. What this signifies is progressive continuity that will allow the governor to deliver more on his developmental agenda for Ekiti. He will not be a new man waiting to be briefed on the activities of governance. There won’t be policy summersaults in an attempt to undo what his predecessor has done. No project will be abandoned because of change of government.
His election on June 20, 2026 was in itself a series of firsts. In a decisive mandate, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed that Oyebanji won across all 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and all 177 wards in the state. He is said to be the first to secure the highest vote margin in Ekiti History by polling an overwhelming 319,224 votes, completely eclipsing his closest challenger from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered just 40,543 votes. This represents the widest landslide margin as well as the highest voter turn-out recorded in an Ekiti gubernatorial election. The feat has been rightly described in several quarters as an endorsement rather than an election.
The election is also the most peaceful in Ekiti political history. The kind of tension and violence that bedeviled pre-election atmosphere in the past failed to rear its ugly head in Ekiti. The post-election peace is also a first. Leading up to the elections, he successfully united various warring factions within his own party and minimized friction with opposition figures, earning praise as a pragmatic leader and a “consensus candidate”. Earlier, he proved himself a pragmatic statesman and benevolent leader. BAO succeeded in wooing all former governors of the state and many stalwarts from warring parties into a united front that ensured his backing from all of them. In a stark departure from the bitter rivalries of the past, Oyebanji’s inclusive approach brought them together to publicly align with his vision for the state’s growth. As a result of this, he is called the HOMO PACIFICUS (Man of Peace) of Ekiti.
Besides these, his election has not witnessed the kind of acrimonious litigation that was the norm in the past as all major contenders had either voluntarily withdrawn or failed to diligently prosecute their case. Thus, there won’t be any distraction from Tribunal litigation allowing the governor to continue to face the task of governance and development.
Governor BAO is widely regarded as the first alumnus of the State Creation Committee to govern. Long before entering Executive Chambers, a young Oyebanji served as the Secretary of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State in 1994. He is the first governor to emerge from among those who actively participated in the struggle for the creation of Ekiti State. This background enables him to align governance with the vision of the founding fathers. It is therefore no wonder that the state had witnessed unprecedented focused development strategy from Day One of his administration. His Shared Prosperity Agenda had taken Ekiti from where it was in October 2022 to higher heights that even serious critics could not challenge.
Actually, his opponents in the last election had nothing tangible to promise Ekiti people as the governor had gone far in delivering on most of the issues politicians harp upon during campaigns. As I wrote earlier before the election, ”Through performance, BAO has made the campaign of other contestants difficult. As things stand in Ekiti today, some issues cannot be effectively used for campaign. It will be an uphill task for the opposition to use infrastructure as an issue. . .” It is no longer news that Ekiti made their “choice between pedigree and stories; between landmarks and rhetoric; (and) between tangible scorecard and promises” (The Vanguard, May 21, 2026).
The Governor’s Public Service Unprecedented Firsts are also many. He is the first governor to completely wipe out multi-month salary debts inherited from previous administrations, regularizing the monthly pay calendar. He would be the first governor to complete his term without owing arrears of salary. He also restored Immediate Cash-Backed Promotions. Since state creation, he is the first to ensure that civil service promotions are immediately met with direct financial implementation rather than lingering on paper. His was the first administration to completely avoid labor strikes and worker friction through authentic consensus-building for four years without a single labour unrest. He also scores the first to inject billions into clearing gratuity backlogs for senior citizens dating back to 2012.
With these numerous First, it is no wonder that the Governor had attracted many recognitions from various bodies. As at date, there may not be any other serving governor who has bagged as many awards and accolades as Oyebanji. He garners awards as a sponge soaks in water. He has been awarded locally, nationally and internationally. His list of accolades includes, but not limited to the following: Silverbird Man of the Year; Leadership Newspaper’s Governor of the Year; Vanguard Newspaper’s Personality of the Year (Good Governance) and New Telegraph Governor of the Year (Infrastructure). Other specific awards are: Energy Governor of the Year presented by Energy Times Magazine to recognize BAO’s vast investments in power infrastructure, which successfully reconnected several rural local government areas to the national grid; Best Tourism Governor of the Year awarded at the Akwaaba African Travel Market for his revitalization of the iconic Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort; the Grand Prix / Outstanding Governor for Inclusive Leadership by Marketing Edge Magazine for his deliberate blueprint of bringing women, youth, persons with disabilities, and opposition party figures into active state governance; and the Daily Independent Newspaper’s Governor of the Year awarded specifically under the category of Community Development to highlight his bottom-up approach to governance. Under his watch, the state had continued to top the chart on various governance indices like fiscal transparency, budget discipline and tourism development, among many.
In conclusion, the administration of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji represents a significant paradigm shift in the political economy of Ekiti State. By breaking the historical cycle of policy truncation through the state’s first successful consecutive democratic transition, the administration has established structural stability as a prerequisite for development. Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration has fundamentally shifted how governance is measured in the Fountain of Knowledge. By consistently transforming campaign manifestos into tangible infrastructure, civil service reforms, and historic electoral victories, he has made trailblazing look seamless. As the first governor to shatter Ekiti’s back-to-back reelection jinx, BAO has established a new standard of responsive, people-centered leadership. His remarkable list of “firsts” signals a clear departure from the uncertainty of the past, anchoring Ekiti State firmly on a path of unity, stability, and continuous growth. As Ekiti advances toward 2030 under his steady, inclusive hand, his legacy of “many firsts” serves as both a testament to what has been achieved and a promise of the shared prosperity still to come.
Ọmọọba Olusesan Alabi writes from Osi Ekiti.
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