New Year: Oyebanji urges support for Tinubu, says guber election won’t affect governance

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji has urged the people of the state to support President Bola Tinubu in his bid to tackle hardship in Nigeria.

Oyebanji urged the people of Ekiti State to intensify their prayers for Tinubu and his administration to successfully implement impactful reforms that will make life better for Nigerians.

The governor stated these at an Inter-faith Thanksgiving Service to mark the first working day of year 2026 which was held at the Obafemi Awolowo Civic and Convention Centre, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, January 2.

He reiterated his call to politicians, political parties and the people of the state to maintain peace before, during and after the June 20 governorship election promising to manage the affairs of the state well such that electioneering activities would not affect governance and service delivery.

Governor Oyebanji emphasised his readiness as a governorship candidate and that of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to play the game according to the rule, expressing confidence that his superlative performance in the last three years would earn him and his party another four year- term in office.

While attributing the success recorded by his administration to God and Ekiti people, Oyebanji also reserved a special commendation for President Tinubu whom he noted had so far supported Ekiti immensely to be better than what it used to be, urging the people to reciprocate by supporting the policies of the President and praying for him to succeed.

Speaking further, Oyebanji said the President’s policies, although painful initially, have started to yield dividends. He cited the remarkable drop in prices of food items and pump price of petrol as some of the noticeable gains.

He said: “We must join the President to take this country from those that are holding it by the jugular. We should support the tax reforms because it will make more money available to all tiers of government. Let us always pray for Mr President to defeat those who don’t want this country to prosper and be better for all of us.

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“When you have a leader that is prepared, when you have a leader that means well for the people and a leader that is sincere, the country will move forward. A policy may be tough initially, it’s like a boil that will be more painful when it’s about to burst. These are necessary things we have to go through.

“Now, the worst is over, the economy is rebounding, the Naira had stabilized, fuel (price) is coming down, inflation is receding and what we can do now is to encourage the President and pray for him. If he can do this in less than three years, imagine what he will do in eight years.

“But those who have held this country by the jugular, who don’t want us to prosper, it behoves on us to retrieve this country from them. The President is ready, we in Ekiti State must support him and continue to pray for him because he has demonstrated capacity, he has demonstrated commitment and he has demonstrated that he knows what he is doing.”

Declaring 2026 as a year of unlimited opportunities in Ekiti, Oyebanji charged political office holders in the state to work assiduously as stewards and manage the resources of the state well so that every citizen will feel the impact of government.

In his sermon, the state Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Emmanuel Aribasoye, charged Oyebanji to always remember the covenant that brought him into office and not to allow anybody to turn him against God reminding the governor to maintain his good personality as a servant of the people.

The State Qareeb Missioner, Abdul-Hakeem Afenifere, advised the governor and other political leaders in the state to refrain from ingratitude, lack of contentment and failure to show mercy to the less privileged reminding them that power is transient and that they will stand before God to give account of their stewardship.

The Star