Chairman of Ekiti State State All Progressives Congress (APC) Affirmation Congress Committee, Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi State, has said the consensus arrangement was a collective effort, devoid of any form of colouration.
Ododo Stated this on Monday in Ado Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State during the party’s governorship primary which is the affirmation of incumbent Governor Biodun Oyebanji as the sole candidate of the party for the 2026 governorship poll.
The Governor said “I can inform this gathering that the decision by our great party to adopt Oyebanji is not a product of imposition, but a way to allow the good works that the APC government in Ekiti has been doing, and so far recorded, to continue,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, had on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, inaugurated an 11-man Consensus Committee for the part.
He said the committee would conduct the affirmation of Oyebanji as the sole candidate of the party for the 2026 governorship poll.
Yilwatda, who spoke at the party’s secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, said the affirmation would be done by the 885 delegates drawn from across the 16 council areas of the state.
The APC national chairman, represented by the Deputy National Organising Secretary, Chidi Duru, hailed the outcome of the delegates’ poll conducted on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, through popular voice votes, has emerged as the APC candidate for the 2026 governorship election in the state.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that Oyebanji won after an echoes of affirmation by the 885 delegates who were elected on Saturday across the 177 electoral wards in the 16 local government areas of the state.
Oyebanji was adopted at the Ekiti State Pavilion on new Iyin Road, Ado-Ekiti via consensus.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who kick-started the move, moved the motion for the governor’s nomination and adoption as a consensus candidate, while the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye, seconded the motion.
In his acceptance speech, Oyebanji said “I hereby accept this honour to fly the flag of our great party in the next year’s governorship election coming up in the state, and I will never take this honour for granted.
“This is too historic, in the sense that this is the first time any ruling party would be doing this for any of its governors in power. Rest assured that this gesture will not go unappreciated.
“To my opponents in the race, be assured that there is no victor nor vanquished. We are in the race together, and the party belongs to all of us.
“Please, let’s come together to lift Ekiti, as I am ever ready to embrace everyone without segregation.
“I plead that all forms of character assassination, cyber bullying, abuses on social media should stop,” he said.
