Ekiti 2026: APM candidate steps down for Oyebanji
Ahead of the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State, the candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in the state, Chief Joseph Anifowose, on Tuesday stepped down for Governor Biodun Oyebanji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at a rally in Igede-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area.
Anifowose cited the need to sustain the pace of growth and development witnessed under the BAO administration over the last three and a half years as the reason for his decision to step down and support the re-election of Governor Oyebanji.
He told party leaders, supporters and residents at the rally that his decision was informed by the visible transformation and developmental strides recorded in the state under the Oyebanji administration, which he described as a turning point in Ekiti’s governance.
According to him, the progress in infrastructure, social services and governance reforms across the state had convinced him that continuity was necessary to sustain and deepen the ongoing development agenda.
He said, “If you look at Governor Oyebanji in the last three and a half years, he has been able to mobilise all the former governors for the development of the state. Governor Oyebanji is a divine arrangement and God-sent. He has shown capacity and competence, and he is committed to making Ekiti great.
“That is why my party, APM, has decided to support the Governor. We held the state executive and state working committee meetings where all the local government executives were directed to go and vote for Governor Oyebanji, and it was publicly announced.”
Earlier in Ilawe-Ekiti, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, and Senate spokesman Senator Yemi Adaramodu declared that there would be no breathing space for the opposition in the battle to secure votes in the forthcoming governorship and general elections in Ekiti.
The trio said the APC is poised to achieve a landslide victory in the June 20 governorship election and the January 2027 presidential election to ensure the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose benevolence and magnanimity, according to them, have benefitted Ekiti in the last three years.
Addressing a large crowd at the two locations, Oyebanji stressed that major capital projects being executed by both the state and federal governments are proof that the APC cares about the state and that the people did not make a mistake in voting the party into power.
Some of the projects referenced by the Governor include the Ikere-Ilawe Road, Ikere-Igbara Odo Road, Igbara Odo-Ikogosi Road, Ilawe-Erijiyan Road, and Ilawe General Hospital, all executed by his administration, as well as the Ikere-Iju-Ita Ogbolu-Akure highway, one lane of which has been completed by the federal government, and the Itawure-Aramoko-Igede-Ado highway, which is currently being reconstructed by the federal government.
According to the governor, the federal government under the leadership of President Tinubu is already fixing the notorious Itawure-Aramoko-Igede-Ado highway.
While urging the people of Ekiti to keep the APC in power at both the state and federal levels, Oyebanji said the President had also demonstrated his love for the state by appointing many of its indigenes to prominent positions in his administration.
The APC governorship flag bearer also disclosed that two power transmission stations at Ilupeju-Ekiti and Ijesa Isu-Ekiti, being executed by the Tinubu-led federal government, are nearing completion and would boost power supply for domestic and industrial use in the state. He charged the electorate to repay the gesture with their votes at the polls.
Oyebanji also took a swipe at opposition parties in the state, criticising them for what he described as inactivity on the campaign field and accusing them of existing only on social media, unlike the APC, which he said is actively engaging the electorate and taking its campaign to communities across the state.
He said: “We are targeting not less than 500,000 votes at the coming election and a 177-0 result at ward level because we don’t want to lose any of the wards. Here in Ekiti South West, which has eleven wards, we are expecting 11-0. We urge our fathers, mothers, youths and everybody to look for the APC name and logo on the ballot paper and thumbprint validly.
“As we leave here, let us return home and make peace with everybody. You see, no other party is campaigning; they are only campaigning on social media and that is where they will hear their own result. God has given us victory already.”
Adaramodu, who represents Ekiti South in the Senate and is the Deputy Director-General of the Campaign Council, maintained that the only agenda on the ground was to deliver victory for Oyebanji and Tinubu. He insisted that candidates outside the APC would not win any election because the zone is a no-go area for the opposition.
He said: “In Ekiti South West Local Government, we have about 56,000 registered voters and if we deliver less than 50,000, we have not done well. That means we must deliver at least 50,000 for APC and BAO (Oyebanji); the winning votes here must be for BAO.”
Bamidele urged the electorate in the council area to avoid what he described as “wasted votes,” saying only votes cast for the APC would benefit them because it is the only party occupying offices from the presidency to the councillorship level.
The Senate Leader, who facilitated the construction of a mini stadium in Ilawe, said the people are benefitting from the federal government, the state government, and various interventions by federal legislators from the state.
Appreciating the people for their support for Oyebanji, Tinubu and the APC, Senator Bamidele said the present administration led by the party has set a standard in governance that would improve the standard of living of the people in the long term.
Bamidele, who is also the Chairman of the BAO Re-election Campaign Council, urged eligible voters to be pragmatic and vote wisely, noting that voting for candidates whose parties have little or no structure on the ground would amount to wasted votes.
He said there would be no breathing space for “marginal parties that want to play spoiler roles,” noting that the strides being recorded by the APC at both the state and federal levels should be sustained to ensure a prosperous polity.
Bamidele said: “I want to say this to our people, don’t allow anybody to waste your votes. If you have a contestant in your hometown who belongs to a party without a President, Governor, Senator, House of Representatives member, House of Assembly member or even councillors, and he tells you to vote for his party, he wants to waste your votes.
“Vote for a party from which you can benefit. This is not the Ekiti South West that BAO met on the ground; a lot has changed here since he came into office. Before the January general elections, we must first secure victory on June 20. None of our candidates should be allowed to fail in any of the elections.”
Ekiti APC Chairman, Barrister Sola Elesin, described Oyebanji as a governor who has lived up to expectations and should be encouraged to return to office for the sustenance of good governance in the state.
Spokespersons of interest groups in the local government areas also threw their weight behind Oyebanji and restated their readiness to re-elect him based on what his administration has done in their communities and council areas.
