Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji(BAO) spoke with a cross section of journalists about the achievements of his administration in the last two years. YAQOUB POPOOLA captured his views on issues pertaining to politics and governance in EkitiState. Excerpts.
You have done much in two years with little resources coming to the state. We would like to know how much your administration has borrowed to finance these projects and the state of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)?
Since we came into office, we have notembarked on any major borrowing other than the monthly overdraft we usually take from banks to pay salaries before the federal allocation comes into our account. We have not borrowed a dimefrom any financial institution to run the state in the last twoyears. Where are wegetting the money? There has been an increment in the revenue allocation from the Federal Government, and also there has been a major increase in our IGR. Wemet our IGR at about N600 million per month, but I can tell you that as of today, we’re doing N1.5 billion per month and it keeps increasing every month.
Before now Ekiti has always been in the news for bad reasons politically, but since you came in, these crises have vanished. How have you been able to achieve this?
As a servant leader, every leader has a choice of how he wants to lead the people. I’m an apostle of what they call soft power and leadership. It means you know that you have the power but you’re careful not to misuse it. It means empathy and compassion. When God entrusted this office into my hands, I made up my mind that the only thing I will do on this seat, is to serve Ekiti people in a way and manner that will bring development into this state. One of the basic ingredients of development is peace and I promise myself that as long as it depends on me, I will be at peace with everyone. I believe that politics ended after my swearing in as the Governor of the state and that day I took an oath to protect the constitution of this country and to serve the people regardless of political affiliation. As the Governor, I see all of us as the indigene of Ekiti not belonging to party A, B or C. I also note that an average human being deserves to be respected and as a leader you need to humble yourself and respect your people. You must show compassion and it will be very easy for them to walk the path of development with you. So, in the last twoyears, we have exhibited the highest sense of humility, compassion, empathy and transparency. I know that if they trust their government, it will be very easy to lead them and I try as much as possible to be truthful in anything I say. If something is within my power to do, I’ll do it and if I cannot do it, I’ll come back to explain to Ekiti people why I’ve not been able to do it. So, we have exhibited trust as an ingredient of our politics. The people know that when their Governor makes a promise, it may be late, it will be done. To all leaders in the state, they are critical stakeholders and I need their help in one way or the other and I run to all of them for advice. Let me say that I don’t go to them as a politician, I go to them as Governor of the state and that makes it easy for them to relate with me. That is what is responsible for the peace we have in this state. As a leader, I have chosen the path of peaceful coexistence with everybody irrespective of political affiliations. It’s a choice I’ve made, it has its own consequences and sacrifices but as long as the strategy translates to the development of our people, it makes me happy.
What are those consequences you faced with this decision you mentioned?
The price of people notaccustomed to this style. You see some of our people telling me that I’m not using my power. Some elements within my political party are also notcomfortable with this posture. There have been a lot of ripples within the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the choices I have made, but like I told them, it’s in the interest of Ekiti people. We don’t play politics with everything; there’s time for politics and governance. So far, so good, I have the backing and support of critical leaders in the party and party members are getting used to this style. Don’t forget it’s a new style in our politics in Ekiti and some feathers might be ruffled, but I thank God that our people are getting used to it.
In recent times, you’veengaged in a series of town hall meetings and citizens’ engagement. What are the feedbacks you’re getting from the people?
I don’t know if I’m in the best position to assess myself, but so far so good, what we’veseen in those places we’ve gone to is that people are happy with us, people have shown appreciation to the little we’ve been able to do. The town hall meeting is not new, it is a carryover from the former administration, and that speaks to the continuity agenda. But what is important for me is that we believe strongly that as a government, you don’t just sit in the office and rule over the people. There’s a need for engagement and also asking the people about their own perspective, what they would like to see in the budget, because governance is about the people. Let me say that what makes me happy about the meetings is that the lastone we just ended, people came out to tell us that last year wecame here, werequested for some things and they’ve been done; so that tells me it’s not a waste of time. They mentioned about four to five things they requested for last year that we’ve done. Even though we’ve not done it all. Also, when wewere campaigning, wewent to the people to ask for their votes, it won’t be too much for us to go back to them now that we’re in government. In fairness to the people, they’re our employers, they put us here through their votes, there’s a need for constant engagements and discussions to even feel their pulse about their government. It serves two purposes- to get their input and to gauge their views on how well we’re doing. I can say on both counts, it’s worth the while and I’ll continue to do that regularly.
There’ve been waves of endorsement for a second term by different categories of people in the state and beyond including political leaders across board. When will you respond to all these people calling for you to contest again in 2026?
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I’m a highly spiritual person and the Bible says the race is not for the swift nor the battle for the strong. My future is in the hands of God, but be that as it may, I’m extremely grateful to those clamouring and wish we continue. I see it as a vote of confidence in our administration. It also puts a lot of burden on us to do more, because apparently wemust have done some things that made them say we should continue. So we must avoid a situation where people will wake up tomorrow and say they don’t want us again. We’re just at the midterm of this administration and it’s nice to hear all those things but I don’t want to be distracted and I’ll continue to do things that will make them say that. But our party has a process of electing who carries the flag of the party. The party will take a decision and whatever decision they take, it’s okay by me. I thank God for this opportunity and my future is in the hands of God.
But there’re feelers that some prominent APC members claiming to be close to the villa are gearing up to contest against you. Are you notworried by this?
People that know me will tell you that I don’t get worried about things like that. This reason why I am notworried is that the seat of the governorship of Ekiti State is open to all Ekiti indigenes that are qualified to aspire. I’m not worried at all. When the time for politics comes, we will play it but for now I don’t want to be distracted.
No doubt, you’ll be commissioning some projects during this second year anniversary, we’ll like to know the state of work as regards the Ekiti State Cargo airport?
The Ekiti Airport is a work in progress. I think we’re expecting the Ministry of Aviation and other regulatory agencies to give us the final certification. They’ve come here twice, and told us to do some adjustments which we have done and once the team comes here next month by the grace of God, and a clean bill from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other regulatory agencies is given, we’re good to go. The airport is ready and I’m a perfectionist and when it comes to air travels, safety is key. I don’t want to play politics with passengers, safety. And there are many airports operating in the country today that are not as good as the one wehave here, that is the truth. By the time Ekitiairport begins operations, you’ll be proud of what we’vedone in that place; it’s going to be one of the best in the country. Hopefully, if we get the necessary approvals, wehave two airlines that we’re talking to and they’re ready to begin operations. We’re also trying to resolve the issue of accommodation for members of staff from the regulatory agencies. They’vestarted posting workers here. Once that is sorted, everything will be in place and I have high hopes that the airport will begin operation before the end of the year because all the physical structures have been completed. The control tower is there and of course the car park and the rest are almost done. Let me say that I am extremely grateful to our revered Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) for his support on the airport project because he has really assisted us beyond our expectations.
What about the access road to the airport?
Don’t forget the road you’re talking about is a federal road and it has been awarded by the Federal Executive Council and as of the last count, I was told that Bureau of Public Procurement is to issue a certificate of no objection to the contractor and once that is done, they will mobilize to site. I must thank the Federal Government for this because when the Minister of Works (Dave Umahi) came here, he made a promise and it has been awarded by the Federal Government.
What will be the key priorities for your administration going forward?
We have used the lasttwo years to lay a very solid foundation for economic growth and development of this state. We campaigned on the mantra of shared prosperity but the people will not prosper if we didn’t put some things in place. We’vespent the last two yearsin erecting the blocks for prosperity and the next year’s budget is going to address the issue of food security and welfare in EkitiState. We’re going to be deliberate in our efforts on agriculture and cater for the informal sector of the economy and the Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises because these are the engines of growth. But you can’t do these things if the state is notsecured or without infrastructure or notaccessible and that is why the airport is key because a road leads to the next town, an airport leads to the world, that is the difference between an airport and a road. From here you can take off and go to the United States but when you leave Ado here by road you will be going to Ikere or the next town. We have to open up the state and that is what the airport does. So, once we are able to get the airport operational, investors will come into the state. We’ll scale up our intervention on security though it has improved tremendously. The next two years is to ensure that we scale up our intervention in agriculture and also create platforms for SMEs to thrive. Wemust make our economy productive because productivity is the key to prosperity.
You’ve made a declaration of paying N70,000 new minimum wage for workers but there are fears this might affect the pace of development in the state, How are you going about this?
Like I said earlier, I want to tell the truth all the time and I’m nothere to do things so that people will clap for me. The minimum wage is a law signed by the President and ratified by the National Assembly. It’s a law and I swore an oath to uphold the law of this country. So I don’t have to make a formal statement in respect to the truth. I don’t want to play politics with the minimum wage. There’s a committee we’ve put in place that is working with the labour leaders. They’vegone far and I don’t want to preempt what will be the outcome of the committee. The only thing I can tell our people is we need to be extremely patient and we shouldn’t follow the multitude. If we’re going to pay minimum wage in Ekiti, we must start with everybody. I don’t want a situation whereby we pay state workers alone and neglect local government workers and teachers. I’m notgoing to be part of that. My charge to the committee is that if they’re starting tomorrow, all the workers in Ekitistate including pensioners must benefit from it. I want a comprehensive report on this, but I can say I’m paying the core civil servants and people will clap for me but others like the teachers and local government workers and the pensioners will have been left out. On whether it’s going to affect the infrastructure development in the state, we have to make a choice and like I said, next year’s budget is on welfare, it’s a priority for us. But you need to also consider the percentage of people that will benefit from this new minimum wage and the generality of Ekiti people, wemust strike a balance. So, we’ll do it in such a manner that neither side will suffer. Workers will be happy and also we develop the state and those not in the employment of the government will be happy too. We must distribute the cake in a way and manner that both the public service employees, those in the informal sector, and our senior citizens are happy and the committee is working hard in this regard and closing their discussion. I don’t want to join the multitude. I’m driven by doing the right thing at all times and like I told you, I’m an apostle of soft power which is about compassion and empathy. I don’t make reckless statements. I can assureEkiti workers that they’ll be happy and they know that there’s nothing I told them that I’ve not done. If we pay minimum wage, it’s going to increase the purchasing power of the workers, these same workers will go to the market, pay rents, patronize the artisans, among others. The money will stay in the state and by the time we start paying, those people providing those services will be positively impacted. That is why we must grow the informal sector so that the person selling will have enough money to stock their shops. We’ve put in place measures to ensure they benefit from our programmes and that is why wehaven’t owed deductions because those things as small as they are, make a big impact in the economy.
Now that you’re at the midterm are you planning to carry out a cabinet reshuffle in line with Key Performance Indicators you set for your cabinet members?
We have the Office of Transformation, Service and Delivery (OTSD ) and they have carried out assessments of members of the executive council twice. I have the reports, but I’m a very fair person. I know ministries that wehave supported, I know those we have not been able to support. We’re in midterm now, they’ll do another assessment, which will make it three and after that I’ll sit down with the DG of OTSD, to look at the performances of members of Excos and if there are those that need help, we’ll help, and if there are those we cannot help, they’ll have to leave the cabinet, there is no doubt about that. I’ll be guided by facts and whoever that doesn’t measure up to the threshold will leave the government.
