Ekiti Development Journey: What June 20 Means for the State’s Future

by Idowu Ephraim Faleye

June 20, 2026 is not just another date on the calendar of Ekiti people. It is the day when our collective decision will impact our collective destiny. A day when Ekiti State will write a new story that will step the state into a future its people have long deserved.

For decades, Ekiti was trapped in a vicious cycle of governance instability that stunted growth and made us a cautionary tale among commity of states. No ruling party had ever retained power in the state back to back. No single governor had ever won a consecutive second term. Every election brought a new face, a new party, and fresh promises that evaporated like morning dew. This pattern created a damaging culture of stop-and-start governance.

Projects were abandoned midway because they were initiated by a predecessor. Policies were reversed overnight. Civil servants lived in perpetual anxiety, and investors stayed away because the ground kept shifting beneath their feet. The people of Ekiti paid the price: in poor roads, dilapidated schools, struggling hospitals, and an economy that never found its footing.

Something historic changed in 2022. When Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji won the governorship on June 18, 2022, and was sworn in on October 16, he did more than occupy the seat at Oke-Ayoba Government House. He broke a curse. For the very first time in Ekiti’s democratic history, a ruling party retained power. That victory signalled that the people were tired of retrogressive politics. They wanted continuity, stability, and real results.

Now, eight days from June 20, the question is no longer whether Ekiti can change. The question is whether we will stay the course or allow hard-won progress to slip through our fingers. To answer that honestly, look at what has happened in less than four years. The evidence is not in government booklets or political rhetoric. It is written in concrete, in numbers, and in the lives of ordinary people.

Start with roads, because in Ekiti, roads are everything. They connect farms to markets, children to schools, patients to hospitals. The infrastructure drive under Governor Oyebanji has brought sweeping transformation to Ekiti’s transport network, turning previously impassable stretches into smoothly paved corridors.

Driven by an urban renewal policy and a genuine commitment to easing the daily struggles of commuters, the governor has prioritised both internal road networks and vital regional linkages. Most notably, he bankrolled the reconstruction of the critical Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki federal Road entirely from the state’s purse, a direct intervention to relieve citizens of extreme hardship caused by years of federal neglect on that stretch.

His aggressive infrastructure push has eliminated bottlenecks, linked rural farming communities directly to urban hubs, and modernised the landscape of the state capital. The results are visible and undeniable: a newly commissioned 1.2-kilometre flyover bridge at Okeyinmi stands as landmark achievements of this administration.

The completed road projects tell the full story. Phase 1 of the Ado-Ekiti Ring Road covers 17.8 kilometres, linking Iworoko through Are, Afao, and Araromi Obo before terminating at the Ekiti State International Cargo Airport. The GRA Third Extension Dual Carriage Road, Phases I and II, is completed with solar street lighting, with Phase III and the extension to the Pavilion/New Iyin Road fully integrated.

Further across the state, the Ikere-Ilawe Road spans 21.5 kilometres, the Ikere-Igbaraodo Road covers 19.2 kilometres, the Ikere-Ise-Emure Road stretches 32 kilometres, the Itapa-Ijelu-Omu Road runs 9.8 kilometres, and the Ikole-Ara-Isinbode Road measures 19.56 kilometres. These are not promises. They are roads that already exist, roads that farmers, traders, students, and patients are using today to build better lives.

Under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), the state is constructing sixteen new rural roads on top of eighteen already completed ones— delivering 275 kilometres of rural roads across Ekiti. That is the difference between a farmer in Ijero watching his yams rot and that same farmer getting his produce to buyers on time. It is the difference between a pregnant woman in Oye enduring hours of agony on a terrible road and arriving safely at a health facility.

Beyond rural roads, the state is building a 68-kilometre ring road around Ado Ekiti. This is no ordinary road. It is a road financed through a public-private partnership that raised ₦32.5 billion in infrastructure bonds — the first of its kind for a subnational project in Nigeria. The ring road will link the city to the cargo airport, the agro-industrial processing zone, and the knowledge zone. It will cut travel time, reduce congestion, lower accident rates, and unlock economic activity along the entire corridor.

In agriculture, Ekiti is, at its heart, a farming state. The Oyebanji administration has launched a massive Agricultural Investment Drive giving farmers access to inputs, credit, mechanised tools, and guaranteed offtake markets. The “Bring Back the Youths in Agriculture” initiative trains and funds young farmers across the state. When young people see that farming is profitable and dignified, they stop fleeing to Lagos or Abuja in search of non-existent white-collar jobs. They stay, build, and create wealth right here.

The numbers from independent observers reinforce this story. Ekiti has ranked first in the BudgIT State Fiscal Transparency League for five consecutive quarters. That is not a fluke. That is discipline and accountability. The state also ranked second lowest among all thirty-six states for out-of-school children, a remarkable feat for a state that proudly calls itself the fountain of knowledge. The administration is aggressively renovating public schools, training teachers, and deploying digital learning tools that make education functional again.

Healthcare has seen a lifesaving turnaround. Neonatal mortality dropped by 57 percent, from 42 per 1,000 births in 2019 to 18 per 1,000 in 2024. Infant mortality fell by 53 percent. Under-five mortality dropped by 54 percent. These are not abstract statistics. These are real mothers who did not have to bury their babies. These are families that remained whole. The administration revitalised primary healthcare facilities, introduced mobile health initiatives, and improved access to care in previously underserved communities.

The youth have not been left behind. The Ekiti Youth Economic Empowerment Programme (E-YEEP) has provided grants, vocational training, and business support to thousands of young entrepreneurs. A young person who learns welding, coding, or fashion design does not just feed himself, he employs others, pays taxes, and becomes a pillar of his community. This is how economies grow from the bottom up.

Governor Oyebanji’s leadership style deserves mention, because governance is not only about projects and budgets. Civil servants speak of regular payment of salaries and better welfare. Farmers praise support that actually reaches them in the fields. Community leaders point to ongoing projects in their villages. This inclusive approach has fostered unity, peace, and a sense of ownership among Ekiti citizens.

Recognition followed naturally: the Leadership Newspaper’s Governor of the Year Award for 2025, the Silverbird Man of the Year Award for 2024, and Vanguard Newspaper’s Good Governance Award for 2024.

June 20 is therefore a referendum on continuity versus chaos, a test of our collective wisdom. Political analysts suggest the 2026 governorship poll may be less competitive than previous elections, not because our democracy is weak, but because the people have seen what stability delivers. When a government performs transparently, the opposition struggles to convince voters to gamble their futures on the unknown.

Yet June 20 is also a reminder that democracy is not a one-time event. It is a continuous conversation between the governed and those who govern. The ring road must be completed. Rural roads must reach every forgotten community. The agricultural revolution must deepen. Healthcare gains must be sustained. Youth must keep being empowered. The peace we enjoy must be guarded against political merchants of violence.

Ekiti’s development journey has only just begun, and we cannot afford to stumble now. The state still faces challenges: poverty has not been fully eradicated, unemployment still stalks some young graduates, and infrastructure gaps remain. But the trajectory is clear, the foundation is solid, and the momentum is real.

The people of Ekiti will not walk into that polling booth blind. They will walk in with eyes wide open, armed with undeniable evidence of what focused, consistent governance can achieve. They carry the bitter memory of broken promises behind them and the reality of new roads, saved lives, educated children, and empowered youth before them.

June 20, 2026 is a statement of our self-worth. It is the day Ekiti will choose its future. The Land of Honour is living up to its name, not through empty slogans, but through the hard, unglamorous work of building a state that works for everyone.

Let us shun primordial rivalries and divisive politics that have only ever brought regret. On June 20, go peacefully to your polling units with your voters card, stand firm on the queue for your children’s future, vigilantly protect the projects transforming our towns, and let us secure the uninterrupted second term that Ekiti deserves. Cast your vote for the continuity of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.

*Idowu Ephraim Faleye writes from Ado-Ekiti+2348132100608*

Development Journey: What June 20 Means for the State’s Future

June 20, 2026 is not just another date on the calendar of Ekiti people. It is the day when our collective decision will impact our collective destiny. A day when Ekiti State will write a new story that will step the state into a future its people have long deserved.

For decades, Ekiti was trapped in a vicious cycle of governance instability that stunted growth and made us a cautionary tale among commity of states. No ruling party had ever retained power in the state back to back. No single governor had ever won a consecutive second term. Every election brought a new face, a new party, and fresh promises that evaporated like morning dew. This pattern created a damaging culture of stop-and-start governance.

Projects were abandoned midway because they were initiated by a predecessor. Policies were reversed overnight. Civil servants lived in perpetual anxiety, and investors stayed away because the ground kept shifting beneath their feet. The people of Ekiti paid the price: in poor roads, dilapidated schools, struggling hospitals, and an economy that never found its footing.

Something historic changed in 2022. When Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji won the governorship on June 18, 2022, and was sworn in on October 16, he did more than occupy the seat at Oke-Ayoba Government House. He broke a curse. For the very first time in Ekiti’s democratic history, a ruling party retained power. That victory signalled that the people were tired of retrogressive politics. They wanted continuity, stability, and real results.

Now, eight days from June 20, the question is no longer whether Ekiti can change. The question is whether we will stay the course or allow hard-won progress to slip through our fingers. To answer that honestly, look at what has happened in less than four years. The evidence is not in government booklets or political rhetoric. It is written in concrete, in numbers, and in the lives of ordinary people.

Start with roads, because in Ekiti, roads are everything. They connect farms to markets, children to schools, patients to hospitals. The infrastructure drive under Governor Oyebanji has brought sweeping transformation to Ekiti’s transport network, turning previously impassable stretches into smoothly paved corridors.

Driven by an urban renewal policy and a genuine commitment to easing the daily struggles of commuters, the governor has prioritised both internal road networks and vital regional linkages. Most notably, he bankrolled the reconstruction of the critical Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki federal Road entirely from the state’s purse, a direct intervention to relieve citizens of extreme hardship caused by years of federal neglect on that stretch.

His aggressive infrastructure push has eliminated bottlenecks, linked rural farming communities directly to urban hubs, and modernised the landscape of the state capital. The results are visible and undeniable: a newly commissioned 1.2-kilometre flyover bridge at Okeyinmi stands as landmark achievements of this administration.

The completed road projects tell the full story. Phase 1 of the Ado-Ekiti Ring Road covers 17.8 kilometres, linking Iworoko through Are, Afao, and Araromi Obo before terminating at the Ekiti State International Cargo Airport. The GRA Third Extension Dual Carriage Road, Phases I and II, is completed with solar street lighting, with Phase III and the extension to the Pavilion/New Iyin Road fully integrated.

Further across the state, the Ikere-Ilawe Road spans 21.5 kilometres, the Ikere-Igbaraodo Road covers 19.2 kilometres, the Ikere-Ise-Emure Road stretches 32 kilometres, the Itapa-Ijelu-Omu Road runs 9.8 kilometres, and the Ikole-Ara-Isinbode Road measures 19.56 kilometres. These are not promises. They are roads that already exist, roads that farmers, traders, students, and patients are using today to build better lives.

Under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), the state is constructing sixteen new rural roads on top of eighteen already completed ones— delivering 275 kilometres of rural roads across Ekiti. That is the difference between a farmer in Ijero watching his yams rot and that same farmer getting his produce to buyers on time. It is the difference between a pregnant woman in Oye enduring hours of agony on a terrible road and arriving safely at a health facility.

Beyond rural roads, the state is building a 68-kilometre ring road around Ado Ekiti. This is no ordinary road. It is a road financed through a public-private partnership that raised ₦32.5 billion in infrastructure bonds — the first of its kind for a subnational project in Nigeria. The ring road will link the city to the cargo airport, the agro-industrial processing zone, and the knowledge zone. It will cut travel time, reduce congestion, lower accident rates, and unlock economic activity along the entire corridor.

In agriculture, Ekiti is, at its heart, a farming state. The Oyebanji administration has launched a massive Agricultural Investment Drive giving farmers access to inputs, credit, mechanised tools, and guaranteed offtake markets. The “Bring Back the Youths in Agriculture” initiative trains and funds young farmers across the state. When young people see that farming is profitable and dignified, they stop fleeing to Lagos or Abuja in search of non-existent white-collar jobs. They stay, build, and create wealth right here.

The numbers from independent observers reinforce this story. Ekiti has ranked first in the BudgIT State Fiscal Transparency League for five consecutive quarters. That is not a fluke. That is discipline and accountability. The state also ranked second lowest among all thirty-six states for out-of-school children, a remarkable feat for a state that proudly calls itself the fountain of knowledge. The administration is aggressively renovating public schools, training teachers, and deploying digital learning tools that make education functional again.

Healthcare has seen a lifesaving turnaround. Neonatal mortality dropped by 57 percent, from 42 per 1,000 births in 2019 to 18 per 1,000 in 2024. Infant mortality fell by 53 percent. Under-five mortality dropped by 54 percent. These are not abstract statistics. These are real mothers who did not have to bury their babies. These are families that remained whole. The administration revitalised primary healthcare facilities, introduced mobile health initiatives, and improved access to care in previously underserved communities.

The youth have not been left behind. The Ekiti Youth Economic Empowerment Programme (E-YEEP) has provided grants, vocational training, and business support to thousands of young entrepreneurs. A young person who learns welding, coding, or fashion design does not just feed himself, he employs others, pays taxes, and becomes a pillar of his community. This is how economies grow from the bottom up.

Governor Oyebanji’s leadership style deserves mention, because governance is not only about projects and budgets. Civil servants speak of regular payment of salaries and better welfare. Farmers praise support that actually reaches them in the fields. Community leaders point to ongoing projects in their villages. This inclusive approach has fostered unity, peace, and a sense of ownership among Ekiti citizens.

Recognition followed naturally: the Leadership Newspaper’s Governor of the Year Award for 2025, the Silverbird Man of the Year Award for 2024, and Vanguard Newspaper’s Good Governance Award for 2024.

June 20 is therefore a referendum on continuity versus chaos, a test of our collective wisdom. Political analysts suggest the 2026 governorship poll may be less competitive than previous elections, not because our democracy is weak, but because the people have seen what stability delivers. When a government performs transparently, the opposition struggles to convince voters to gamble their futures on the unknown.

Yet June 20 is also a reminder that democracy is not a one-time event. It is a continuous conversation between the governed and those who govern. The ring road must be completed. Rural roads must reach every forgotten community. The agricultural revolution must deepen. Healthcare gains must be sustained. Youth must keep being empowered. The peace we enjoy must be guarded against political merchants of violence.

Ekiti’s development journey has only just begun, and we cannot afford to stumble now. The state still faces challenges: poverty has not been fully eradicated, unemployment still stalks some young graduates, and infrastructure gaps remain. But the trajectory is clear, the foundation is solid, and the momentum is real.

The people of Ekiti will not walk into that polling booth blind. They will walk in with eyes wide open, armed with undeniable evidence of what focused, consistent governance can achieve. They carry the bitter memory of broken promises behind them and the reality of new roads, saved lives, educated children, and empowered youth before them.

June 20, 2026 is a statement of our self-worth. It is the day Ekiti will choose its future. The Land of Honour is living up to its name, not through empty slogans, but through the hard, unglamorous work of building a state that works for everyone.

Let us shun primordial rivalries and divisive politics that have only ever brought regret. On June 20, go peacefully to your polling units with your voters card, stand firm on the queue for your children’s future, vigilantly protect the projects transforming our towns, and let us secure the uninterrupted second term that Ekiti deserves. Cast your vote for the continuity of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.

*Idowu Ephraim Faleye writes from Ado-Ekiti+2348132100608*