Citizens of Ekiti are stunned and petrified by what Governor Oyebanji presented as a budget to the House of Assembly today.
The budget reeks of corruption and shows clearly that Oyebanji has no regard whatsoever for the suffering of the people.
While Ekiti decays in neglect and excruciating poverty, it is most unfortunate that Oyebanji’s priority is appropriating money to the mundane, with an over 1,000% hike embedded in every single item listed.
What has continued to irk the general populace since the presentation of this inappropriate budget is the N150m pegged for household equipment. Beyond the stupendous hike in these items, one wonders why the state house needs new refrigerators, dishwashers, blenders, air conditioners, etc., every year and why the prices of these items have jumped from N10m in the last budget to N150m!
Indeed, when the world looks at Ekiti, it sees a state that is now a relic of its former self. Every stratum of society has literally rotted.
Infrastructure is in tatters, and the people are groaning under the yoke of hunger, insecurity, unemployment, and crime everywhere they look.
A deeper look at other key sections of the sham presented today reveals even more alarming and gaping discrepancies.
Again, while his people cry out in pain, Oyebanji’s preoccupation is renovating an already posh government house. Is it any wonder that Oyebanji budgeted a whopping N400m to renovate the government house, compared to N100 million that was allocated in 2024?
With the rate Oyebanji renovates the government house yearly, one is forced to ask if the premises are overtaken by voracious termites that chew up the people’s money.
The lack of empathy for the people and the transparency in Oyebanji’s budget is preposterous and repugnant.
From the renovation of government chalets at stupefying rates to other constructions within the government house at an inflated rate of over 800%, Oyebanji reeks of an inability to connect with the people and their reality.
Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this budget is the complete lack of scrutiny it has faced in the state’s legislature. The Ekiti State House of Assembly passed the budget without any amendments, despite the glaring questions surrounding these excessive expenditures, showing clearly that they are unashamed lackeys of the governor.
This raises a fundamental question: Are the lawmakers truly serving the people of Ekiti, or have they been blinded by the perks and privileges granted to them by the executive they are supposed to oversee?
Against the backdrop of chronic underfunding of schools, hundreds of out-of-school children, food scarcity due to insecurity, and the complete neglect of farmers and their struggles, it is reprehensible that those in government, who are already eating fat, continue to be gluttonous and selfish, leaving the people to wallow in the filth of poverty while they cruise across town in luxury.
Is it news to anyone that healthcare in Ekiti is in shambles? Yet, the concern of the bourgeois government of Oyebanji is to further impoverish the people, leaving them near death while government officials fly out of the country for medical care if they as much as have a headache.
At this point, the people of Ekiti must hold Oyebanji accountable. They cannot continue to stand by the sidelines, waiting for crumbs while Oyebanji blows his sirens, with an entourage in cars worth hundreds of millions of Naira each.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji and Speaker Adeoye Aribasoye must provide clear, compelling explanations for the rationale behind the exorbitant allocations in the 2025 budget to the people.
If leadership is about prioritizing the well-being of the people—especially in times of economic hardship—the people of Ekiti deserve better than extravagant spending that benefits only a select few. This is why they must kick Biodun Oyebanji and his vultures out come election 2026.
Dare Adeleke
Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Ekiti State.
3/1/25
