In this interview, Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji speaks with reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on his style of governance, political principles, relationship with his predecessors, and other partisan issues. Correspondent RASAQ IBRAHIM reports
How true is the allegation that you entered into a pact with the main opposition party, the PDP, which appears to have abdicated its responsibility of keeping the ruling party in check?
Thank you so much for this question, it is good feedback. I believe that the best assessment of any government is by the Ekiti people and if it is coming from you the journalists, that tells me that it is a position that one has to take seriously. As a government, we have a contract with the Ekiti people and we promised ourselves that we would work for them. We made certain promises and for the past few months, we have ensured that those promises have been kept. Even if those promises come at a cost, it requires self-discipline, a lot of concentration, a lot of consultation and a lot of what I will call a stable and compassionate policy from the government. It also requires a lot of tactics and strategies. We have tried as much as possible to ensure that we are truthful to the Ekiti people. We believe that trust is key to governance. So, the first mark I set for myself is that I need to earn the trust of the Ekiti People because if you are going to take them on a journey of four years, they must trust me to the point that they will follow me to that expected end and we have tried to do that. So, if this is the feedback, I give God all the glory but I also know that it is too early in the day for us to rest on our oars. So, the reward for hard work is more work. Concerning buying the opposition, it is not correct. What we have done is to ensure that we are running an inclusive government and we are communicating with everybody including the opposition. The election stopped the day I was sworn in as governor of Ekiti State. I don’t see myself as governor of APC, I am the governor of everybody in Ekiti State and I relate with all of them as Ekiti indigenes. So, politics has stopped, we are in the realm of governance and governance tells me that I have to be responsible to both my party members and people who didn’t even vote for me. There are a lot of Ekiti People who don’t even belong to any political party, I am also responsible to them. So, before I assumed office, I visited every one of our leaders in the state across political divides because I believe strongly that I need all of them, I need to learn from them, I also need to take feedback from them and we had useful discussions with leaders of my party, those that are non-political and those that belong to the opposition. And every time I go to them, I take note of whatever they tell me and when I have issues, because I have established that relationship, I can call them and ask for advice and all of them have been advising me. So, that may be responsible for the feedback you are getting in town, I have not bought anybody, all the support has been unconditional and none of them has asked me for any favour and that is the truth.
You have been shying away from taking political decisions as demonstrated in the appointments of commissioners and the emergence of the party’s flag bearers for the council poll. What is the reason for this?
Well, thank you so much. I am a product of a system, I ran on the platform of a political party and when I went to canvass for their votes during primaries, I made certain promises to them based on the feedback we got from party members. There were complaints then, that the party was not involved in a lot of things and I told them that I would return the party to the leaders. I made that promise to them and I don’t think it will be right for me to assume the seat and renege on that promise. I believe in the supremacy of the party, I believe that the party knows everybody because we gave them certain parameters to follow in fairness. There are certain conditions I gave to the committee on appointment when I inaugurated them. I told them that the candidates must be competent, and compassionate, they must be people that understand the six pillars of the administration. So, they have certain benchmarks and the reason I did that was because I want Commissioners that are in touch with their localities.
As a leader, it is good to think globally, but it is better to act locally because we are products of this environment. So, at the end of the day, they recommended three names per local government because the committee went around the state for eight weeks collating curricula vitae, interviewing them and don’t forget that the committee was headed by a retired permanent secretary, late Chief George Akosile and we had the like of ex-deputy governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu. Other members of the panel are experienced people and I don’t believe that the leader is not necessarily the person who knows everything. The leader is someone who can put together smarter tips to guard him when making a decision. So, I believe strongly in their ability and capacity to do that. It is not that I shy away from it; I just wanted to test another approach. I don’t believe that being the governor confers a monopoly of knowledge on me, I don’t believe in it. But at the end of the day, it was my decision because out of the three names submitted, I still had to pick one. I must confess, the day we did swearing-in for them, you will realise that people are taking ownership of it. They are the representatives of the local government.
For the APC chairmanship primary, as the leader of the party, I don’t think I should have a favourite candidate and the chairmanship position belongs to the local government because that is the closest level of government to the people. I don’t want local government chairmen who will be loyal to me as governor of Ekiti State. I have sat on this seat for close to one year and I have realized that if you are on that seat and you are not compassionate, you don’t love the people, you can use that seat to destroy lives. So, I wanted chairmen of local government who would hold their allegiance to their people not to me. If I sit down here and appoint chairmen for the 16 local governments and 22 local council development areas their loyalty will be to me, not to the people and that will not be good for our people. So, that is the reason I have decided to democratize the choice of political appointments. And so far, so good, I think it resonated well with the party people because the leadership also consulted with traditional rulers, and opinion moulders in the state and local government before they came up with that. I can assure you that I didn’t get involved in any of them and I am okay with that. I am not here to build a structure for myself; the structure must be built to serve the people of Ekiti State because the state is larger than the governor.
How has Ekiti State fared financially since you took over the reins of power, in terms of monthly internally generated revenue (IGR), allocation from the Federation Account government and the status of debt of the state? What did you meet on the ground in the last year?
Well, concerning what I met on the ground, there is no state that will not be indebted but the question is what are the debts spent on? It is not an offence if a state is indebted; what it used the money for is the key issue. There are a lot of capital projects going on in the state. We know that the state resources may not be enough. It is even better for you to do all these things by taking a loan than to wait, because of the rate of inflation. And has there been any manna falling from heaven? Well, there has been an improvement in the federal allocation coming to the state. I see Ekiti State as a company, before I make any decision, I will ask myself if this were to be my company, what would be the best decision for me to take? You will realise that we have run an austerity government for the past year and gradually, my aides are coming to terms with my style of leadership. My style of leadership is that of servant leadership, the people first. So, because of the change in our attitude to governance, we have drastically reduced a lot of expenditure on recurrent. You know, we have stopped unnecessary workshops, seminars and travels that will not add value to the state. I met with the rank and file of the civil service before I came on board and I begged them that when they receive all these circulars for the organization of workshops, ask what value it will this add to Ekiti. And they found out themselves, they called themselves to order. As the governor of this state, I have been here for close to a year, I have only travelled out once and it was free, UNDP sent me to Kigali. Every month, I receive six to seven invitations to travel out but I ask myself, what value will this bring to Ekiti? If it’s not something that will add value, I drop it because I know that this seat has an expiry date, when I leave, will I be able to go home and sleep well? I also know some of you may not agree with me that I will stand before God to give an account one day. I believe in that. So, because we have been able to change the focus of governance, we will do more with little and we will continue to do more with little. We have not owed deductions, we have not owed salaries, yes, and we take overdrafts to pay salary at times. We put N2.5 billion aside per month, to pay salaries because I don’t want to owe workers’ wages. We are dealing with the gratuities arrears, we have paid CONHESS to local government staff, and we have provided resources for local government to function. I have spent a year in office, I have not bought any official car, I am still using the one left by my predecessor.
The first set of political appointees I have worked for a year without official vehicles, but now that I have brought in additional members (my bosses), I need to make provision for vehicles for them. But as the governor, I have not bought a new vehicle and I don’t intend to buy as long as the ones I have are functional. I took them to Abuja, and they helped me refurbish them and they look nice and I am good to go and it doesn’t make me a lesser governor. I see service delivery as a definition of that seat. I was elected to serve the people, so it is not about my convenience or comfort. I still believe that leaders should make sacrifices and because I am conservative, most of the commissioners and other appointees now have to check themselves before they bring any frivolous file to my table because they know that you have to put the people forward.
Ekiti people across political divides have given your administration a pass mark, claiming that you have breathed a new life into governance with the citizenry savouring the dividends of democracy on a larger scale. What should they expect in the next three years?
We traversed the length and breadth of Ekiti State for the campaign on the mantra of continuity and shared prosperity. We promised continuity of the programmes and policies of my predecessor in the office which we have articulately adhered to for the completion of some of the projects that he couldn’t complete while he was here also you will recall that before he left office, we launched the Ekiti State 30-year development plan from 2020 to 2050 and our manifestoes are an offshoot of the development plan.
The last budget was termed “Budget of Strong Beginning” and we named it so; so that we can put in place a very strong foundation for the prosperity of our people now that the foundation has been laid, we have presented it before the House of Assembly the budget of 2024 and the budget is to put building blocks gradually for the foundation that has been laid to dispense prosperity for our people. So, what the people of Ekiti State should expect in the next three years is a faithful implementation of our six pillars of developmental agenda under the Ekiti State development plan and per the 2024 budget. So, Ekiti people should expect new capital projects, and improvement in the living conditions of the people, those in the formal sector should expect government support for the informal sector and the same for the private sector and they should look forward to the establishment of industries in the state. Also, we are going to put a lot of emphasis on a clean environment to ensure that we clean our environment, we emphasise art, culture and tourism and also, we attack unemployment and insecurity.
Security is paramount to achieving all your programmes and agenda for the state. How do you intend to make Amotekun Corps active like its counterparts in the Ondo and Oyo states?
I too have the same concern but we need to do more with Amotekun. When I came on board, I tried to look at it because the Amotekun was under me when I was the secretary to the state government. Since I became the governor, I commissioned a team to look at the Amotekun and I discovered that we need to change the tactics with them. We need to employ more people, we need to train them, we need to provide resources for them, but you know, we also need to provide clear direction for them.
And when I was very much convinced that new leadership was needed, I brought in the current commander who just left the Northeast, he just retired from the army, he had been leading Boko Haram fights in the northern states and I brought him on board. Since he came on board, he has changed the face of Amotekun in the state, currently; he is going around the state to ascertain the status of the corps. He has not completed that, once that one is done, we are going to sit down with the local government but we need to recruit more people, and we need to provide working tools for them I agree with you that the comparison with their counterpart in the Southwest, there can be improvement and we will see to that but this government believes in the Amotekun philosophy and we also believe that if properly managed with the current leadership, our Amotekun will bite more. So, we are working in that line but I must commend the new Commandant, he has brought a lot of discipline and a lot of direction into the corps and part of what we are doing is just to change the leadership now and I am just waiting for him to come with his reports because Amotekun is a joint concern for both the state and the local government.
We have done something when I came on board, we have increased their salary like the other states, have done but in terms of providing tools for them, making them effective, we need to look into that but we are going to do it this time around in conjunction with the traditional institutions at the local level. So, there are a lot of structural issues with it but we will resolve that.
You have been able to maintain a cordial relationship with your predecessor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, contrary to what obtains elsewhere with successors and predecessors usually up in arms. How have you been able to achieve that?
There is no secret. Remember, I worked with Governor Fayemi for seven years. In his first term in office, I was the commissioner for Regional Integration, I later headed OTSD, and later served as commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, so, I worked with him for four years. When he came back, in 2018, I was the SSG for three years. So, after seven years of working with him, God has used him to support me to be here. I see myself as the clone of both himself, Governor Niyi Adebayo and Governor Ayo Fayose. And since Oga (Fayemi) left, I am the one who is always disturbing him, because there are some doors I will ask him to go and open for me and he does that without any problem. I consult with him regularly, he has not foisted anything on me, he doesn’t disturb me for anything, and I am the one disturbing his peace. I will call him when he comes back to Ekiti, he will tell him I should allow him to rest. There was a time he had to go to London to do something for me. He got there and he called me and I spoke with the person. Today I called him to do some things for me and he said he would do it. There is no basis for friction. I am blessed by predecessors who don’t disturb me, even those who belong to the opposition, I have found favour in their eyes, and they give me advice unconditionally so, I stand on the shoulders of giants and I know that it is only the grace of God who has made this to happen. My relationship with all of them has been extremely cordial and I intend to maintain that. Governor Fayemi remains the leader, my boss remains my mentor and because I worked with him for seven years, making decisions, to a large extent, I can guess what he would do on any matter. One day we were having a discussion, I was telling him I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that, I was mentioning names and he told me that look, if he was the one taking the decision, he would pick those people too. This is because I sat at all the meetings as SSG with him. I was a member of the strategy team, I was a member of his think tank. So, he has taken me through all these things so, on any decision, I have an idea of what Oga will do. But where I have a problem, I can pick up my phone and call him to ask what should I do concerning this. So, I am full of gratitude to him for his support and I can count on his stronger support going forward.
