2026: I won’t contest for Ekiti gubernatorial poll, says Bamidele

• Apologises to supporters, political associates for declining request
• Don’t allow politics to divide us, Oyebanji tells indigenes

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has ruled out the possibility of contesting for the Ekiti State governorship election in 2026. He, therefore, apologised to his supporters and political associates for declining their request to contest.

Bamidele, who is representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District at the Senate, declared that he and other members of Ekiti State Caucus in the National Assembly would join hands with other progressive-minded people to support the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji, for second term.

The senator spoke, at the weekend, during the commissioning of some of his constituency projects across the district, including a two-kilometre road, male and female hostel for the Ekiti State University in Ado-Ekiti, and the e-library donated to the state government, among others.

According to him, the reason the state is at peace was that nobody is at loggerheads with another, unlike in the past when intra-party crisis was the order of the day.

Bamidele, who was accompanied on the project inauguration by Oyebanji, said that the governor’s transformative leadership and people-oriented policies and programmes had brought a lot of significant development to the state and its people.

He said that the peaceful atmosphere, coupled with the governor’s open hands to various political tendencies, had encouraged people to contribute their quota to the development of the state.

Oyebanji, in his response, said that the developmental strides happening in the state was made possible through unanimity of purpose, urging the people not to allow politics to divide Ekiti homogeneity. He said that he and the Senate Leader were on the same page concerning 2026 election.

The governor hailed the commitment of the Senate Leader and his colleagues in the National Assembly to Ekiti State development, adding that their exemplary performance underscored the importance of electing people of proven integrity and capacity as representatives in government.

Meanwhile, Oyebanji while inaugurating the digital library in Ado-Ekiti, commended the developmental strides of Bamidele and how he had cooperated with his administration in the state by attracting many federal projects.

The governor urged residents of the area to continue to give their maximum support to the senator in his efforts to contribute to the overall development of the state.

In his remarks, Bamidele said that the library was named after his former teacher and school principal, the late Bishop Gabriel Oloniyo, whom he met in 1976 when he was admitted to Egba-Owode Grammar School.