By Editor
Ahead of the much awaited political activities leading to the 2026 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, a non-governmental, cross generational organization, Ekiti Future Agenda (EFA) has called for a resourceful political engagement and issue based electoral campaign in the State.
The organization made the disclosure at the weekend after a successful statewide tour of it’s on the spot assessment of projects executed by the current administration.
In a press statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the organization said; “In the face of the prevailing electoral campaign dominated with misinformation and disinformation, such as spreading of false or misleading information to influence voters, as well as campaign strategy that is focused on attacking opponents rather than promoting one’s own policies, there is urgent need for everyone that has genuine development of the state at heart to intervene.”
According to the Convener, Ekiti Future Agenda, Adesina Adetola, who spoke after the exercise said; “It is appropriate to look beyond propaganda, character assassination and politics enriched in polarization such as campaigns that exacerbate divisions and create hostility between different groups, it is high time to generally push for politics that promotes ideas and values.’
“Let’s add value and substance to the campaign strategies. In this contemporary world, for our democracy to be at par with the developed nations, we should dwell less on mundane things, we should be discussing developmental agenda against the situation where the media spaces are dominated with junks and irrelevant conversations.” He said.
Speaking further, Adetola, a socio-economic development strategist said; ”Our level in Ekiti should have gone beyond what we are witnessing in the electoral terrain at present. Some people will call it politics, but I will say, it is a kindergarten adventure, a clear symptom of cluelessness in the polity. The opposition to the current government seems to be extremely docile. It dwells so much on caricature strategy, which is a minus to genuine idea in democratic governance. We should not be practicing 19th century democracy by now, electioneering has gone beyond that. It has become a major tool for societal advancement and public service innovation. It is a period to set an agenda and reappraise existing ones. It is not a time for false propaganda and junk narratives.’
Meanwhile, it is good to note that over the years, Ekiti Future Agenda has initiated and executed a number of activities, projects and interventions in Ekiti State. Typically, in giving back value to the State, these are in the form of advocacy, schemes and education, which have become defining moments in the annals of the state’s development. In this vein, The Ekiti Future Agenda on Spot Assessment titled -Seeing is Believing; which took the organization across the sixteen local government areas of the State was primarily to evaluate the performance of the current administration of Governor Oyebanji while promoting good governance and transparency in political administration.
The assignment saw the organization visiting different projects, both ongoing and completed, ranging from road infrastructure, health facilities, agricultural establishments, public buildings, sports development, youths engagement among others. At the end of the exercise, the organization agreed that the governor has done well in fulfilling its campaign promises and also posited that the reward for good work is more work.
