Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has officially emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for next year’s governorship election following a consensus adoption by delegates across the state.

The consensus, affirmed by a voice vote of 885 delegates drawn from the 177 wards in Ekiti’s 16 Local Government Areas, took place on Monday at the Ekiti State Pavilion, Ado-Ekiti.

Senate Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele moved the motion for Oyebanji’s nomination, which was seconded by the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye. With this, Oyebanji became the first APC governor in Ekiti’s history to secure back-to-back nominations since the return of democracy in 1999.

Chairman of the Affirmation Congress Committee and Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, who presided over the exercise, said the adoption reflected the party’s internal unity and transparency.
“The decision by our great party to adopt Oyebanji is not a product of imposition but a way to allow the good works of the APC government in Ekiti to continue,” Ododo said.

Earlier, APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, had inaugurated an 11-member Consensus Committee chaired by Governor Ododo and deputised by Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo to supervise the affirmation process.

Represented by the party’s Deputy National Organising Secretary, Nze Chidi Duru, Yilwatda commended the peaceful conduct of the delegate poll held on Saturday and praised Oyebanji’s leadership for uniting the party in the state.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Oyebanji expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu, Senate Leader Bamidele, members of the National Assembly from Ekiti, and former governors Niyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi for their support.

“I hereby accept this honour to fly the flag of our great party in next year’s gubernatorial election. This is historic, as it is the first time a ruling party has done this for a sitting governor in power,” Oyebanji said.
“To my opponents, there is no victor nor vanquished. The party belongs to all of us. Let us come together to lift Ekiti. I am ready to embrace everyone without segregation and appeal that all forms of character assassination, cyberbullying, and abuses on social media must stop,” he added.