Ekiti 2022: Job Creation, Human Devt Top Priorities, as Oyebanji Unveils Agenda

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

Preparatory to the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Hon. Biodun Oyebanji, yesterday unveiled his six-point agenda, indicating the kernel of his policy thrust if elected governor of the state.

As encapsulated in the manifesto, job creation for young people and human capital development would be top priorities of the Oyebanji’s government, to further tap the rich human resources the state is endowed with.

Other critical areas captured in Oyebanji’s policy thrust include: ‘Agriculture and Rural Development, Infrastructure and Industrialisation, Arts, Culture, and Tourism, and Governance’.

The party also held a roadshow from the popular Trade Fair Complex to the party’s secretariat in Ado Ekiti to mobilise support for the APC candidate.

Addressing the crowd of party supporters at the unveiling of the manifesto held at the Trade Fair Complex in Ado Ekiti, Oyebanji said he won’t take for granted the votes of over 100,000 party adherents, who elected him at the January 27 primaries.

He said: “This is not a promise made by a politician, but a promise that I made as an Ekiti man to the Ekiti people. We are going to grow the economy and create jobs for our people. We will invest in human capital to safeguard the future of our people.

“Our mission is to provide quality education and develop our knowledge zone in order to create jobs, new markets, and attract financing for industrious Ekiti entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses.

“We will complete all strategic infrastructure projects in transport, agriculture and power designed to improve the quality of lives for all and make Ekiti State competitive for businesses of all sizes.

“We will provide conducive environment and sustainable welfare package for our workers, retirees and traditional institution, develop our rural communities, support our farmers and improve the productivity of our agriculture sector.

“We are going to develop our tourism industry by investing in our attractions, cultural endowments and assets, complete projects that will increase power supply and extend and maintain our transportation networks.

“Among all the candidates of this election, I am the only one that has a programme that can drive innovation, create wealth and bring deserved development to the state.”

The Director General of Biodun Oyebanji campaign outfit, Hon. Cyril Fasuyi, added that  the event signaled  the beginning of electioneering in APC and signposted the fact that it will be issue-based.

Fasuyi said the manifesto was a well-articulated document that serves as a social contract between the party and the Ekiti masses, and a well amplified testimony that the party is ready to give the people the required dividends of democracy.

In his address to members, the state party Chairman, Paul Omotoso, said the June 18 election is a forgone conclusion, and that there is every proof that  the APC would win the poll in a landslide fashion.