Vice President Kashim Shettima is in Ekiti State to stand in for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the inauguration of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, who begins a second term as the first Ekiti governor to be re-elected and succeed himself since the state was created in 1996.
Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Vice President, disclosed in a statement on Friday that Senator Shettima was received on arrival at the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Governor Oyebanji.
Also on hand were the governors of Kwara, Imo, Sokoto, Kebbi, Ondo and Jigawa States, APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, and Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari. Former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko was among other top dignitaries present.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti. It will formally begin another four-year tenure for Oyebanji and his deputy, Mrs Monisade Afuye.
On behalf of the President, the Vice President will witness a milestone in a state where governors have historically failed to secure consecutive terms, with power often passing between political parties from one administration to the next.
Themed “The Good Work Continues,” the inauguration follows Oyebanji’s re-election and is expected to consolidate his administration’s development agenda.
Shettima is accompanied by the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Aminu Sule Garo; Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; Senator Muntari Dandutse; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake; and Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar, among other senior aides.
