Politics
Some Leaders Don’t Like Me For Being Truthful In Governance -Gov Oyebanji
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has revealed that some people and leaders in the state were not comfortable with his style of governance due to his determination to always tell the truth to the citizens.
Oyebanji, who lamented that the people have been used to the era of their political leaders telling lies to deceive them, added he would remain committed to his campaign promises towards enhancing the socio-economic development of the state.
The Governor spoke in Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area, on Monday while giving an account of his stewardship at a stakeholders’ engagement programme marking his 300 days in office.
He appealed to the Ekiti people not to put undue pressure and demands on the newly appointed commissioners and Special Advisers, stressing that such could prevent them from coming to their constituencies regularly as true representatives of the people.
Oyebanji also declared that his government had expended the sum of N213 million to lift 2,600 indigent citizens from poverty under the social investment component of his administration within his first 100 days in office.
According to him, “I want you to remember me as your leader who does not lie to you.
“I will be dealing with you with all sincerity and truthfulness, but unfortunately, our people don’t like the truth. People confronted me about the fact that politicians don’t always say the truth, but I told them to blame my parents for that because my father thought I should always tell the truth, and it is too late for me to learn how to lie.
“What I can’t do, I will tell you I can’t do it, and because I always say the truth, many people are not happy with it. I am sorry that is how it will be; I have no apology for it.
“I will continue to tell the truth so that when I leave this place, people will remember me as the governor who tells the truth at all times.”
Dispelling the fear being nursed by some concerned citizens that the new appointees could slow down his pace of performance with their politicking, the Governor said the new appointees were coming with additional values to the government, adding that rather than slow down the pace of work, the public should expect a greater level of performance.
“The new commissioners are coming from different backgrounds and diverse levels of expertise. We are still going to do much more than what we have done. If we can do all these in eight months without a full cabinet, we should be able to do twice of these in four years.
“My cabinet members must hear this; our people said I am doing well because my Commissioners, who are politicians, have not been brought on board.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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