Oyebanji aides resignations intensify as two more officials quit, citing personal woes, just weeks before the APC Ekiti primary on October 27, 2025. Critics decry underperformance amid funding windfalls
In a stinging blow to his leadership, Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s camp has unravelled further with two key aides tendering their resignations, fuelling whispers of deep unease within Ekiti State’s ruling All Progressives Congress.
The latest departures strike mere weeks before the APC’s governorship primary on October 27, 2025, a make-or-break contest for Oyebanji’s bid to secure a second term in 2026.
Sunday Oguntuase, the Senior Special Assistant on Employment, and Shina Olawale Ogunleye, a member of the Ekiti State Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency, both stepped down citing personal reasons and family commitments.
Oguntuase’s letter, dated September 25, 2025, and Ogunleye’s from October 1, 2025, were delivered straight to the governor’s desk.
Yet beneath the polite veneer, these exits echo a broader exodus that has seen over a dozen officials abandon ship in the past two months.
Recall the seismic shift in June, when Wale Ade-Oba, a Waste Management Board member, didn’t just resign – he detonated a public broadside.
Ade-Oba pledged swift allegiance to rival APC aspirant Engr. Kayode Ojo, lambasting Oyebanji’s administration as a “failure” despite record federal allocations.
“I’m writing to share a personal decision that may surprise many,” Ade-Oba declared in his Ado-Ekiti statement. “After much reflection, I’ve decided to join forces with Engr. Kayode Ojo, a leader with a vision for a better Ekiti.”
His critique cut deep, accusing the governor of sidelining loyalists, favouring opposition turncoats, and vanishing on “unclear agendas” that starved local progress.
“The administration hasn’t delivered meaningful development to many local government areas, including mine in Irepodun/Ifelodun,” he fumed. “Our party members are overlooked and undervalued.”
Others followed suit: Dada Abiodun John, Senior Special Assistant on Solid Minerals; Israel Adesokan (Jaru), his counterpart on Traffic Management; and Akogun Abayomi Olumide, ex-head of the Microcredit Agency, who decried his sacking as “politically motivated” before backing Ojo.
Oyebanji aides resignations now paint a portrait of fracture, with insiders murmuring of cliques and neglect.
Ojo, the University of Nigeria Nsukka chancellor, has seized the moment, positioning himself as the “rescuer” Ekiti craves.
His campaign vows full local autonomy, infrastructure blitzes, and a “new deal” for overlooked workers – promises that resonate amid the governor’s woes.
As the primary looms, Oyebanji’s team insists unity prevails, pointing to endorsements from party elders like former governors Niyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi.
But with forms submitted and screening dust settling – Ojo provisionally cleared pending NWC review – the air crackles with tension.
Also read: Oyebanji accused of self-succession bid in Ekiti
For Ekiti’s faithful, these oyebanji aides resignations signal not just personal pivots, but a clarion call for change.
Will the governor rally his fractured fold, or will this torrent of exits drown his re-election dreams? The October ballot will tell.
