A political earthquake hit Ekiti State on Sunday as Governor Biodun Oyebanji stunned the state’s political class by dissolving the State Executive Council with immediate effect, sending several Commissioners and Special Advisers packing.
The dramatic shake-up, announced by Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Habibat Adubiaro, orders the affected officials to hand over to their respective Permanent Secretaries or the most senior civil servants in their Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
In a surprise twist, some heavyweight portfolios survived the purge. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, along with the Commissioners for Health and Human Services; Agriculture and Food Security; Education; Works; and Trade, Investment, Industry and Cooperatives remain firmly in their seats.
Special Advisers for Special Education and Social Inclusion, and Lands, Survey, and e-GIS also escaped the governor’s sweeping hammer.
Meanwhile, all Directors General in the council — including those in charge of the Office of Transformation and Service Delivery (OTSD), the SDGs and Project Monitoring, and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) — will retain their positions.
Governor Oyebanji, in a terse message, thanked the outgoing cabinet members for their service and wished them well in their future endeavours. But insiders say the move signals a bold repositioning ahead of a new political phase in Ekiti.