Governor BAO: A Total Fiasco On All Fronts! 

AYO B’ FOLUSO 

Only few days ago, a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in the ‘Fountain of Knowledge’ state, Engr. Kayode Ojo, during his interaction with the media when he went to submit his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretariat, Abuja, said that he was on a ‘rescue mission’ – to liberate Ekiti from the shackles of incompetence and visionless leadership. One of the sad revelations from that media engagement was the doleful fact that Ekiti State today ranks 29th out 36 States of the Federation and the FCT in terms of educational development. How sardonic this is to hear!

As if the above were not bad enough, the latest sad news coming from Ekiti is that the state under Governor Abiodun Oyebanji ranks first among 12 _Most Expensive States_ to live in Nigeria. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the month of August 2025 revealed that Ekiti ranked 28.17% YoY (Year-on-Year) inflation rate. What does this mean? It means Ekiti State has the highest rate of inflation in the country! How, then, is the question.

People ask, ‘What is the implication of the recent NBS report?’ There are two answers pointing to a similar conclusion. The first one is from the data analytics or what you can call data analyst view. The data revealed shows that despite the injection of funds from the Federation Account, more recently that it had almost even doubled and disbursed to states, Ekiti State has not put such funds into judicious use. Hence, the increase in inflation rate compared to the same period of the preceding year.

There’s also an economic angle to it, which is that beyond the increased monthly allocation that has not translated to any meaningful impact, the special intervention fund from the Federal Government to revive agriculture (for instance, the N200billion released by the Ministry of Finance to Ekiti State government) and the N30billion released to tackle food insecurity all amounted to NOUGHT! Governor Kàlò-Kàlò has swallowed the money and therefore has subjected Ekiti people to untold hardship.

If people complain bitterly about the infrastructural decay across the state despite humongous allocation coming to the state’s coffers monthly, if people complain of biting hunger as a corollary of impoverishment and penury, and if people ululate about the excruciating and exacerbating hardship they go through daily with Governor Oyebanji’s overt indifference and nonchalant attitude; it therefore means Governor Oyebanji has failed on all fronts and any further attempt to ‘reward’ with a return ticket by the APC leadership, it is a recipe for reinforcing FAILURE!

As it stands today, the APC does not stand a chance of winning election in Ekiti State going by the shenanigans of the incumbent governor, and despite the resources available to the government of the day. Mr. President must show interest in the affairs of the state. He should not go to bed thinking all is well. With many reports that some of his former students from the South West in Tinubu’s school of politics may have plotted an ambush for him against 2027. He must therefore see Ekiti as his project, and therefore get it a candidate that can deliver the state for him in 2027 effortlessly.

As for Governor BAO, it is time he’s shown the exit door. E don do!

Ayo B’ Foluso

Ado-Ekiti.