Ekiti, carved out of Ondo in 1996, is small, highly educated and famously hard on its governors. Until 2026 no Ekiti governor had won two terms in a row. It has voted out three sitting governors, seen one impeached and another removed by the Court of Appeal, and spent six months under emergency rule. Since a 2010 court ruling it has voted off-cycle, in June.
1999 and 2003: Adebayo loses to Fayose
Niyi Adebayo, a lawyer, won the January 1999 election for the Alliance for Democracy with 300,118 votes. In April 2003 he lost to the PDP’s Ayodele Fayose, a businessman, by 219,906 votes to 168,391.
2006: impeachment and a state of emergency
Fayose’s first term ended in turmoil. In October 2006, amid allegations of corruption, the House of Assembly impeached him and his deputy. For days the state had rival claimants to Government House. On 19 October 2006 President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency and appointed retired General Tunji Olurin as administrator until the 2007 handover.
2007 to 2010: Oni, a rerun and Fayemi
The PDP’s Segun Oni, an engineer, was declared the winner in April 2007 with 177,689 votes against 108,305 for Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress, a scholar and pro-democracy activist. In February 2009 the Court of Appeal ordered a rerun in 63 wards. The rerun, held on 25 April and completed on 5 May 2009 after violence and the brief resignation of the state’s resident electoral commissioner, gave Oni 111,140 votes to Fayemi’s 107,011. Fayemi challenged that too, and on 15 October 2010 the Court of Appeal ruled that he had won. He was sworn in the next day, and Ekiti has voted off-cycle ever since.
2014: Fayose’s comeback
On 21 June 2014 Fayose, back in the PDP, beat Fayemi by 203,090 votes to 120,433, winning all 16 local governments. His campaign of food and cash handouts gave Nigerian politics the phrase “stomach infrastructure”. Fayemi conceded within hours, which was widely praised.
2018 and 2022: Fayemi returns, then Oyebanji
Fayemi, by then Minister of Mines and Steel, won back the governorship on 14 July 2018 with 197,462 votes against 177,927 for Fayose’s deputy, Kolapo Olusola (Eleka), in what an election monitor called the most heavily policed election in Nigeria’s history.
His former Secretary to the State Government, Abiodun (Biodun) Oyebanji, held the state for the APC on 18 June 2022 with 187,057 votes (53.2%). Former governor Segun Oni, now in the SDP, came second with 82,211 and the PDP’s Bisi Kolawole third with 67,457.
2026: a record second term
On 20 June 2026 Oyebanji won re-election with 319,224 votes, far ahead of the PDP’s Oluwole Oluyede on 40,543 and the ADC’s 12,872, becoming the first Ekiti governor to be re-elected for an unbroken second term.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Niyi Adebayo (AD) | 300,118 | PDP candidate | not published |
| 2003 | Ayo Fayose (PDP) | 219,906 | Niyi Adebayo (AD) | 168,391 |
| 2007 | Segun Oni (PDP); overturned for Fayemi in 2010 | 177,689 | Kayode Fayemi (AC) | 108,305 |
| 2009 rerun | Segun Oni (PDP); overturned for Fayemi in 2010 | 111,140 | Kayode Fayemi (AC) | 107,011 |
| 2014 | Ayo Fayose (PDP) | 203,090 | Kayode Fayemi (APC) | 120,433 |
| 2018 | Kayode Fayemi (APC) | 197,462 | Kolapo Olusola (PDP) | 177,927 |
| 2022 | Biodun Oyebanji (APC) | 187,057 | Segun Oni (SDP) | 82,211 |
| 2026 | Biodun Oyebanji (APC) | 319,224 | Oluwole Oluyede (PDP) | 40,543 |
What comes next
Ekiti does not elect a governor in the February 2027 general elections. Oyebanji’s second term runs to October 2030.
