Former Commissioner for Works in Ekiti State and State Secretary, People’s Democratic Party, Ogun Funmilayo Theresa (OFT), has declared that the main opposition party in the state doesn’t perceive Governor Biodun Oyebanji as indomitable as the game towards the 2026 governorship race gather steam.
The PDP Scribe warned some personalities in the opposition party against acting as moles and fifth columnists in the party that had given them leverage to actualise their political recognition by their unending hobnobbing with Governor Oyebanji to the part’s detriment.
Funmi Ogun insisted that the second flyover bridge being constructed by the administration of Biodun Oyebanji was grossly misplaced, contrary to the narrative of “self indictment” being raised against her by Lere Olayinka
The PDP leader was emphatic that such humongous amount of N17 billion, which she said was still subject to variation the government was planning to expend on such a misplaced project could have been deployed to fix all deplorable roads in the capital and other cities.
Funmi Ogun expressed these feelings, while replying to a statement credited to Lere Olayinka, attacking the PDP over her accusation against governor Oyebanji that some godfathers are breathing heavily on his neck and impeding his freedom to deploy state’s resources to develop the common men.
Funmi Ogun’s reply, released through a statement on Sunday, urged the PDP national working committee to slam a punitive action on those exhibiting disloyalty to the PDP by selling their birthrights to the ruling party like the biblical Esau.
The former Commissioner expressed trust and confidence that the PDP leaders, especially herself, was resolute and gritty enough to join forces with other committed party members to mobilise Ekiti to trounce the ruling party, she said has performed abysmally under Governor Oyebanji.
She queried Lere Olayinka for his impetuous reply,
She stated that members of the PDP will in 2026 take their destiny in their own hands, by not allowing those with tainted integrity to control the nucleus and soul of the party. She said governor Oyebanji will be roundly defeated going by the current mood of the nation and the state with committed PDP members in full fledged control.
“I didn’t mince words by what I said that godfatherism had been elevated to a states craft under Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. He now prefers to go and see them than to see Ekiti people he was primarily elected to govern. This is antithetical to democratic norms .
“Let Lere Olayinka and his ilk go round Ado Ekiti and feel the pulses of the people about the new flyover bridge, their countenances denote that of angry men and women. They perceived the project as unsolicited. This is not what Ekiti needs now.
“It was true that I supervised the one built at Okesa under Governor Ayodele Fayose as a Commissioner for Works. The project was conceived then following signs of traffic congestion and rampancy of accidents being witnessed at Okesa Area then being a government’s offices’ area. So, what we did was right and defensible.
“The current fuel subsidy removal has helped in decongesting the town naturally, so who are they building this one for? Are they constructing it for vehicles or animals? Just go round and see how traders, commuters and pedestrians are suffering due to chaotic traffic hold up causes by construction around that side. They even diverted traffic to areas where roads were impassable. This second flyover is not a necessity “.
Funmi Ogun lambasted Lere Olayinka for resorting to blackmail that she abused Ekiti leaders by her comment against godfatherism, saying Ekiti people understand perfectly those who are posing as such to the current Governor and that she has no reason to condemn leaders who are genuinely close to the governor.
On the mock put up by Lere Olayinka that Funmi Ogun had lost three previous attempts to win elections through the ballots, the former Commissioner clarified that such was not alien to politics at the local, national and global scenes.
“That I had tried to be House of Assembly and House of Representatives member under the PDP and couldn’t realise these doesn’t mean I can’t be governor. I didn’t lost at the ballot, I withdrew for the sake of the party. The case of Abraham.Lincoln who contested fours times and lost before becoming the President of United States of America was a strong precedent. That of former President Muhammadu Buhari is still fresh in our memories. He contested four times before becoming the President. I am not bordered by this taunt”.
Funmi Ogun told Olayinka that she enjoys unimpeded constitutional right to contest in Ekiti, as an indigene, despite marrying to someone from Delta. She said the comment that she should go and contest in her hubby’s state was laced with invidious mindset and a brazen backing for gender exclusion.
“Let Lere Olayinka go and read the 1999 constitution, nothing stops me from contesting in Ekiti. I hailed from Orin Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government . This fact is indisputable. Mrs Daisy Danjuma, the wife of retired Lt Gen Theophilus Danjuma is from Edo State, but married to someone from Taraba. He contested for Senate in Edo State and won. This happened in the PDP among other instances”.
She appealed to Lere Olayinka and those prodding him to destabilize the PDP to have a rethink and reunite fully with the party, so that they can celebrate the impending victory together in 2026, saying the field subsidy removal and its negative effects were enough signals that the APC has failed at all levels.
