130 pan-Yoruba groups adopt Oyebanji for second term

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has flagged off its membership revalidation exercise across the 16 local councils of Ekiti State in preparation for the party’s governorship primaries slated for October 27, 2025.

Chairman of the national committee overseeing the revalidation exercise, Jarret Tenebe, who is also the Edo State APC Chairman, disclosed this during a media briefing in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

He said the exercise was crucial to update the party’s membership register in line with the APC’s constitution and to ensure that only eligible and financially up-to-date members participate in the upcoming primaries.

Tenebe, accompanied by other committee members from the party’s national secretariat, emphasised that the revalidation process was being carried out simultaneously in all the local councils of the state.

He urged members who have consistently paid their monthly dues over the past 12 months to visit their respective wards to confirm their status and ensure they are eligible to participate in the governorship primaries.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 130 pan-Yoruba groups, under the aegis of the Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movements (AYDM), yesterday, endorsed the governor, Abiodun Oyebanji, for a second term in office.

The endorsement, made during a two-day regional conference held in Lagos State, cuts across civil society organisations, community-based associations and pan-Yoruba movements from the old Western Region, including parts of Kogi, Kwara, Delta, and Edo states where Yoruba communities are indigenous.

Spokesman of the coalition, Wale Adeoye, said the move was borne out of Oyebanji’s performance in governance and his commitment to the regional integration of the South-West.

According to him, Oyebanji has become “a beacon of hope not only for Ekiti State but also for the entire Yoruba Nation and Nigeria at large.”

Adeoye noted that the growing involvement of grassroots organisations in informal political blocs reflects a deep yearning for a common regional future, especially in the face of rising insecurity, food crisis and declining moral values.