The Ekiti Progressives Assembly (EPA) has expressed serious concerns over Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji’s administration, accusing it of failing to deliver sustainable development despite claims of impressive revenue growth in the state.
At a press conference held on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, in Ado-Ekiti, the group’s Convener, Mr. Babajide Alofe of Ekiti West Local Government, and Secretary, Mr. Kehinde Oni Oloke of Oye Local Government, said the Assembly’s intervention was not politically motivated but rooted in the need to protect the dignity, progress, and honour of the state.
While acknowledging that Ekiti’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) had reportedly risen from about ₦650 million to ₦2.3 billion monthly in three years—making the state one of the fastest-growing in IGR nationwide—the group dismissed the achievement as unsustainable.
According to them, the revenue growth was largely driven by increased taxation and enforcement, with more than 80 percent coming from personal income tax, instead of industrial expansion or agricultural development“The citizens bear the brunt, not the benefit, of this so-called progress,” the group said.
The Assembly further alleged that abandoned health centres in Iropora-Ekiti and Igede-Ekiti, as well as the deteriorating state of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, were evidence of neglect in the health sector. It said many hospitals and clinics across the state remained locked, under-equipped, or lacking staff, despite government announcements and budgetary provisions.
On infrastructure, the group faulted what it described as selective development, noting that while the government frequently commissions projects, critical roads such as the Ado–Aramoko highway remain neglected. “Ribbon cuttings cannot replace real development,” the Assembly declared.
The body also raised concerns over education, claiming many schools still lack adequate facilities, and over land disputes such as the controversy involving Agbeyewa Farms in Ikole, which it said suggested government bias towards multinational agricultural companies at the expense of local farmers.
Although the state government has promised to renovate more than 100 health facilities in 2025 under the World Bank–supported IMPACT programme, the Assembly insisted that progress on the ground remains limited.
In its recommendations, the group called on youths to reject tokenism and seek genuine opportunities in education, agriculture, and enterprise; urged civil servants to uphold integrity; encouraged women to demand inclusion beyond patronage; and charged the media to expose corruption and amplify citizens’ voices.
“Ekiti deserves empowerment, not crumbs,” the Assembly said, accusing the administration of betraying the vision of the state’s founding in 1996. “The time for silence is over. Ekiti must rise again.”