TheCable

Biodun Oyebanji, former secretary to the state government (SSG), has been declared winner of the Ekiti governorship election.

Kayode Oyebode, returning officer for the election, announced the result in the early hours of Sunday.

Oyebanji secured 187,057 votes, defeating his two closest challengers — Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who polled 82,211 votes, and Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 67,457 votes.

The APC candidate, who won 15 out of the 16 LGAs in the state, was declared winner of the election at 3:05am.

“That Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Oyebode said.

Oyebanji had, in his manifesto, said said his focus areas will include youth development, job creation, MSME finance support, and sports development.

“Our proposed strategic pillars of action are all interlinked. We are ensuring that there is sufficient investment, and attention given to the specific areas we believe have the potential to create opportunities, improve well-being and deliver sustainable growth for everyone; from our elderly, to our youth, to our women, our workers at state and local government levels, our small and micro business owners, our investors, our teachers and our lecturers; and of course, our children,” he had said.

“Let me remind you that there is no magic wand to build our state, and that the sustainable progress we want will not happen overnight.

“We have been on a long journey to reclaim our land and restore our values. It is now time to hunker down and sustain all our gains.

“That is why it is important that we encourage policies that keep the state working in partnership with our people.”