Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji has described as false and misleading claims by a governorship aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kayode Ojo, about contributing to the construction of the state’s international cargo airport.
The aspirant, through his campaign team, had last weekend revealed that he supported the construction of the airport with the donation of a fire service amounting to N80 million.
But Oyebanji, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, during the annual lecture and award ceremony of the Correspondent Chapel of Ekiti NUJ in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, noted that the claims by the aspirant of supporting the state government in the multi-billion naira project should be disregarded.
He challenged the aspirant to provide any proof of donating fire service and N80 million to the airport project, saying that the claims were made to score cheap political gains in the build-up to the October 27, 2025, governorship primaries of the APC.
According to him, the project, which commenced during the administration of former governor Kayode Fayemi in October 2019 and is now operational, had only the support of legal icon and elder statesman, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN.
Expressing worry over the recent waves of inaccurate statements and reports, especially as relates to the state government allegedly being sponsored by his political opponents, the governor urged journalists to play their role in ensuring the public is getting accurate information from the media space.
While reiterating the commitment of his administration to the entrenchment of democracy ideals in the state, Oyebanji emphasised the need for journalists to embrace fact-checking ahead of the electioneering, warning that unchecked misinformation could mislead the public.
He said, “As we go into the election period, we must probe further and verify claims made by aspirants; many write-ups are being circulated without documentary evidence.
“For instance, a governorship aspirant (Kayode Ojo) recently claimed to have contributed N80 million to the airport project, including a fire station, but upon verification with the Special Adviser on the airport project, no such record exists.
“By the grace of God, I was the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Fayemi when the project started, and now also as CPS to Governor Oyebanji, I can tell you that what he said was false and misleading. We don’t have records of such support, he claimed he made to the airport. No politician contributed a dime to the airport.
“The only contribution came from Chief Afe Babalola, who even preferred it not to be publicised, but the governor has found a creative way of acknowledging the substantial contribution of the elder statesman.
“Everything we do now leaves a record, and anyone making such claims must present proof. If he has the proof, he should bring it to the public, not just about making claims for political gains.”
He acknowledged the support of the media sector to his administration in the enlightenment of people on government policies and programmes, promising to sustain the enabling environment where they could practice their profession without any form of harassment or intimidation.
