From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
Otunba Emmanuel Fayose, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2026 election in Ekiti State, has criticised past elected governors of the state for throwing their weight behind the re-election bid of the incumbent Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji.
Emmanuel Fayose, who is the younger brother of former governor Ayodele Fayose, in a statement he personally signed on Saturday, and made available to Daily Sun, alleged that former governors Niyi Adebayo, Ayodele Fayose, Segun Oni, and Kayode Fayemi were overly concerned about their own personal gains, hence their endorsement of Governor Oyebanji to continue in office beyond 2026.
The aspirant, who described the endorsement as shameful, also opined that it was against the interest of the people of the state.
“The reported endorsement of Governor Oyebanji to continue in office by his predecessors, comprising former governors Niyi Adebayo, Ayodele Fayose, Olusegun Oni, and Kayode Fayemi, is not only shameful but selfish and self-serving.
“I am making this assertion based on the current realities in the state, which have made Ekiti an underachiever in the comity of states in the country.”
Fayose, who also lamented that Ekiti has not witnessed remarkable development since the inception of the present democratic dispensation, blamed successive governments for not investing enough in Ekiti to move the state forward.
“Since 1999, every administration in Ekiti State has betrayed the people, especially our suffering youth, and abandoned the senior citizens.
“Healthcare is in ruins. Roads are death traps. Unemployment is at its worst peak. Rising security challenges. Not a single major investor has been attracted to the state in 25 years.
“Yet today, the same failed leaders under the banner of Ekiti Former Governors Association, with their loudmouth spokesperson, former Governor Ayo Fayose, are shamelessly rallying behind another incompetent administration.
“These men are enjoying their monthly benefits. The present governor opens the state’s treasury for them as a conduit pipe to their advantage at the detriment of our people.”
He, however, urged the people of the state to stay vigilant in their quest for a new leadership, which he said his aspiration stands for.
