Oyebanji\u2019s career includes serving as secretary to the committee that oversaw the creation of Ekiti State, chief of staff to its first civilian governor, and commissioner under former Governor Kayode Fayemi. His long trajectory in governance has made him a fixture in Ekiti politics, and he has already secured the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination for a second term in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Tinubu\u2019s tribute has sparked debate. Supporters see it as a strong endorsement of Oyebanji\u2019s leadership and a signal of federal backing for his re\u2011election bid. Critics, however, argue that while progress has been made, Ekiti still struggles with unemployment, poverty, and underdeveloped rural communities. Some question whether Tinubu\u2019s praise reflects genuine achievements or political loyalty within the APC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On social media, reactions were mixed. \u201cOyebanji has brought stability to Ekiti, and that deserves recognition,\u201d wrote one supporter on X. Others were more skeptical: \u201cDevelopment strides? Ordinary people are still waiting to see them,\u201d posted another user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political analysts say the birthday message underscores Tinubu\u2019s strategy of consolidating party unity ahead of upcoming elections. \u201cThis is more than a congratulatory note, it\u2019s a political signal,\u201d said Lagos\u2011based commentator Tunde Alabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For residents of Ekiti, the governor\u2019s record remains a matter of lived experience. Some point to new roads and schools as evidence of progress, while others insist the state\u2019s challenges remain daunting. As Oyebanji celebrates his 58th year, the question lingers: will his next term deliver the transformation Tinubu so confidently praises?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Ekiti State Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji on his 58th birthday, lauding his decades of public service and recent development initiatives in the southwestern state. In a statement released Sunday, Tinubu described Oyebanji as a \u201cdedicated public servant\u201d whose contributions to Ekiti\u2019s growth span from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,1138],"tags":[2655,2647,2649,2646,2653,2651,2650,563,2648,617],"class_list":["post-25392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-accountability","tag-apc","tag-birthdaytribute","tag-ekitistate","tag-governancematters","tag-governorbirthday","tag-leadershipcelebration","tag-nigeriapolitics","tag-oyebanjiat58","tag-publicservice"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Biodun-Oyebanji-of-Ekiti-State.jpg?fit=640%2C499&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25398,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25392\/revisions\/25398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-42.png?resize=600%2C400\")