Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji , (born 21 December 1967) is a Nigerian politician who has served as governor of

Ekiti State Ekiti State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkìtì) is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State. Named for the Ekiti ...

since 2022. He is a former Secretary to the

Government and a former Chief of Staff. He was elected governor during the

2022 Ekiti State gubernatorial election The 2022 Ekiti State gubernatorial election took place on 18 June 2022, to elect the List of governors of Ekiti State, Governor of Ekiti State. Incumbent All Progressives Congress, APC Governor Kayode Fayemi was term-limited and could not seek ...

, having defeated

Olusegun Oni Olusegun Oni (born 5 September 1954) is a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Ekiti State from 29 May 2007 to 14 October 2010. He was a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2014 he defected from the PDP and joined ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and Bisi Kolawole of the People Democratic Party.

Education

Oyebanji attended Awo Community High School before transferring to C.A.C Grammar School in Efon-Alaaye,

, and then the Federal School of Art and Science in

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to ...

and the District Commercial Secondary School in Aramoko, Ekiti State (1979 to 1983). In 1989, Oyebanji obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) degree in Political Science from the

University (now Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti), and proceeded to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...

in 1992 where he bagged his masters’ Degree (M.Sc) in Political Science.

Career

Oyebanji has at various points served in public service through appointments or as a member of committees. In 1994, Oyebanji was appointed the Secretary of the committee set up for the creation of Ekiti State, headed by Baba Deji Falegan. He was also the Secretary of the Ekiti State Development Fund at one point. When Nigeria reverted to democracy in 1999, at 32 years old, he was named as one of the top advisers to Otunba Niyi Adebayo, the state's first democratically elected governor. Oyebanji ascended through the ranks to become the state governor's Chief of Staff in 2003. In 2009, he was appointed as the chairman of the governing board, Citizenship and Leadership Training centre under the federal ministry of youth and sports development (June 2009 – December 2010). In 2010, Oyebanji was appointed the commissioner for integration and inter-governmental affairs and later Ekiti’s office of transformation strategy and delivery (OTSD) a year later by the administration of

Kayode Fayemi John Olukayode Fayemi (born 9 February 1965) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Ekiti State from 2018 to 2022. He previously served in office between 2010 and 2014 before losing re-election to Ayo Fayose, Ayodele Fayose. He was ...

. In 2018, Oyebanji was appointed

secretary to the state government The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) is an official in the state governments of Nigeria's 36 states. The individual who holds the office is usually appointed by the State Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a po ...

(SSG) by Kayode Fayemi, after being reelected for a second term as Governor of Ekiti State.

Politics

In 2021, Oyebanji resigned his position as the Secretary to the State Government to pursue his governorship aspirations. On 8 December 2021, Oyebanji declared his intention to contest the Ekiti State Gubernatorial Election in 2022 There were speculations of Oyebanji being the favourites of Kayode Fayemi, resulting in inferences of an imposition on the State which led to other aspirants withdrawing from the governorship primaries polls alleging that the "election committee was made up of loyalists of Fayemi". The grievances of the other aspirants were not addressed by the party hierarchy hence, the primary was held, and Oyebanji polled 101,703 votes, unopposed to emerge as the All Progressives Congress governorship flag bearer in the

. On 18 June 2022, Oyebanji was elected governor on the APC platform with a 30% margin over second-place finisher and former Governor

of the Social Democratic Party. He was officiall
Sworn in as Governor of Ekiti State
on October 16, 2022.

Personal life

Oyebanji is currently married to Prof. (Mrs) Oyebanji, who is an associate professor at the University of

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

and also a princess in Ado Ekiti.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biodun, Oyebanji People from Ekiti State Governors of Ekiti State Living people 1967 births Yoruba politicians All Progressives Congress politicians All Progressives Congress state governors of Nigeria Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Ekiti State University alumni Ekiti State University faculty