The winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, has said the outcome of Saturday’s poll is a clear validation of his administration’s performance and a demonstration of the people’s confidence in his leadership.
Oyebanji, who said Ekiti voters are politically enlightened and consciously chose continuity because they have seen tangible benefits from his administration’s policies over the past four years, described the June 20 governorship election as “the day of reckoning for critics.”
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti shortly after his re-election victory, the governor attributed his electoral success to the implementation of his administration’s six-pillar development agenda, noting that his government had remained faithful to its social contract with the people.
Recall that the governor polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rival, Dr Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 40,543 votes, while the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ambassador Dare Bejide, came a distant third with 12,872 votes.
Governor Oyebanji also pointed to the scale of his victory as evidence of the electorate’s endorsement of his administration, challenging critics to cite a similar electoral performance anywhere in the country.
According to him, “What happened yesterday is a validation of our performance by the people. The people of Ekiti are politically enlightened. They know what works for them and when to change a government that is not working.
“If, in their wisdom, they have decided to re-elect us, it means we are doing something right. We had a contract with the people based on our six pillars of administration, which cover critical areas of development.
“In the last four years, we have diligently pursued the implementation of these programmes, and I am sure the people have seen the difference our policies have made in their lives.
“Based on that, they have renewed our mandate. They are enlightened enough to know what works for them, and they have made a very clear choice. We have a system that is working.
“I challenge anyone to point to an electoral contest in this country where a winner emerged victorious in virtually all the wards in a state.
“We have 2,445 polling units across the state, and our opponents did not win up to 10 of them. That speaks volumes, and we must begin to appreciate what is good when we see it.
“Thirteen political parties contested this election, and the people have made their choice.
“In 2022, I won with about 187,000 votes. Yesterday’s result was over 300,000 votes. That is an increase of more than 100,000 votes, and it reflects the confidence the people have in our administration.
“What happened is not only a validation of our performance in Ekiti; it is also a vote of confidence in the President because the reforms he has introduced have provided more resources to subnational governments.
“Without those reforms that freed up resources for states, there is no way we would have been able to achieve many of the things we have done for our people.
“In the history of this state, this is the first time all former governors have lined up behind one party and one candidate. It has never happened before.”
