Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said that his administration remains resolute in its commitment to curb Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the state, saying that the state government is set to enforce stiffer penalties on violators of its gender-based laws.

Fayemi stated this yesterday while receiving the yearly report on the management of gender-based violence and the state GBV strategic plan from Chairperson of the Ekiti GBV Management Committee, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, at the Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti.

The governor said that the commitment of his administration to battling GBV in the state was a clear demonstration of his commitment to upholding his campaign mantra on values reorientation and restoration, promising that the state government would provide institutional and other forms of support for the works of the committee.

The wife of the governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, while presenting the report, disclosed that Ekiti State Government, through the 2019 GBV law, which makes provision for survivors’ fund, had provided succour for no fewer than 133 survivors of GBV between December 2018 till date.

In another development, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Adeolu Tinubu, has urged Fayemi to seek peaceful resolution of the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party so that developmental agenda of his administration would not be derailed.

Tinubu, who spoke yesterday in Emure-Ekiti while interacting with some elders, said Fayemi and politicians of the APC extraction must work in one accord for the state to be truly respected as a land of honour.

He said politicians should not have the impression that all their grievances could only be resolved by heating up the polity, saying such tendencies can only make the state ungovernable and truncate the wheel of development.

The chieftain said that Ekiti State had a long history of “peaceful co-existence rooted in humility, integrity, good name, communal relationship, selfless service and hard-work,” adding that politics should not be allowed to truncate such long-standing tradition.

“I appeal to Governor Fayemi and the political leaders of APC to eschew discord and embrace peace,” he said.

“The latest development where party leaders are locked in battles would only increase disunity in the state and thereby retard the progress and development as a whole.

“There is no meaningful progress that can be made under the climate of discord, unhealthy rivalry, violence and general disequilibrium.

“Ekiti State is loaded with man-power potentials, and we are respected for our hard work and intelligence. Such potentials will amount to nothing when not harnessed to effectively bring out greatness for our dear state.

“Governor Fayemi as the leader must live by example by reaching out to aggrieved individuals across party lines on the need to ensure a peaceful Ekiti State.

“2022 governorship election is still long. This is the right time for governance and when the time to play politics comes, then they should all go out and reach out to our people to canvass for votes in a peaceful and civil manner,” he advised.