Shortly after his victory in the Ekiti governorship election on June 20, Oyebanji dismissed online criticism of his administration, insisting that electoral success is determined by performance and voter choice, not digital opinion.
“There are no polling units on social media,” the governor said on Sunday.
“A farmer who has diligently tilled the ground does not interfere on the day of harvest. Some people who have not done anything are busy on social media. They are not polling units on social media.”
Oyebanji added that those who fail to connect with citizens often resort to public commentary rather than engagement at the grassroots.
“If you have done well, people will vote for you. But if you don’t have anything to say, other than going to media houses to grant interviews and telling lies against the government, stay on social media whipping up sentiments. Yesterday was their day of reckoning,” he said.
Oyebanji recorded a decisive victory in the election, winning across all 16 local government areas of the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rival, Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 40,543 votes. Dare Bejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came third with 12,872 votes.
The returning officer Adenike Oladiji announced the final results at the collation centre in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday morning.
According to INEC, out of 988,251 registered voters, 384,940 were accredited to vote. A total of 375,777 votes were valid, while 6,332 were rejected, bringing total votes cast to 382,109.