Claims: A former member of the House of Representatives, and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Bimbo Daramola claimed that Governor Oyebanji of Ekiti state spent over N20bn to complete Ado-Ekiti -Ifaki federal road, and rehabilitated about 98 intra-towns and intra state roads. Verdict: While available data shows that the State government spent
Claims: A former member of the House of Representatives, and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Bimbo Daramola claimed that Governor Oyebanji of Ekiti state spent over N20bn to complete Ado-Ekiti -Ifaki federal road, and rehabilitated about 98 intra-towns and intra state roads.
Verdict: While available data shows that the State government spent N15billion to reconstruct Ado-Ekiti-Ifaki federal road, as against over N20billion earlier claimed, only 35 roads were rehabilitated, as against 98 roads earlier claimed.
The story in context:
The electioneering race in Ekiti state gets hotter by the day, considering the scheduled primary election of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, coming up on October, 27, 2025. The scheduled primary has created factions within the party, with some members loyal to the sitting governor Oyebanji and the others pitching their tents with Engr. Kayode Ojo who many political associates view as a threat formidable enough to unseat the current governor.
To douse the tensions being generated by this threat, supporters of the incumbent have started a rigorous defense of his achievement in the last two and a half years and why he should be returned in the 2026 gubernatorial election..
One of these supporters is a grass-root politician, a former member of the House of Representatives, and a chieftain of the APC, Hon. Bimbo Daramola. In an interview to The Nation newspaper, he claimed that:
- Governor Oyebanji of Ekiti state spent over N20bn to complete Ado-Ekiti -Ifaki federal road;
- The Governor rehabilitated about 98 intra-towns and intra state roads;
Who is Hon. Bimbo Daramola?
He is a Nigerian scientist and a former legislator in the House of Representatives of Nigeria, representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency, Ekiti State, South-West, Nigeria since 2011. His clout in the Ekiti APC is one to be reckoned with and being a persona behind these claims shows those statements should not be taken with levity, considering his followership and a generality of the citizens whose rights to credible information should be respected.
Hence, NDRCheck deemed it fit to dig deep into the veracity of the claims.
Verification:
Is it true that the governor spent over N20 billion to complete the Ado-Ekiti-Ifaki federal road?
One, to verify the authenticity of this claim, we took an audit of credible media reports and official reports surrounding road infrastructure in Ekiti state.
Available data in the public space, as reported by the InsiderBusiness, showed that the Ado-Ekiti-Ifaki federal road gulped N15bn, contrary to the ‘over N20billion claim”, with a pledge by the Senate President to lobby for a refund by the Federal Government.
Hence, the claim that the governor spent over N20 billion to complete the Ado-Ekiti-Ifaki federal road was exaggerated.
Is it true that the number of rehabilitated roads was about 98?.
To answer this question, NDRCheck observed that, while there were media reports revealing the estimated budget spent on road construction and rehabilitations by the state government, no publicly available evidence showed that the number of the rehabilitated roads was about “98”.
For instance, the state has been reported to have spent N130 billion on road construction and maintenance in one year, an amount the governor admitted was equal to the state budget, three years before.
In an attempt to dig deep, NDRCheck visited the state’s archive and scrutinised available documents on the status of roads in the state.
As revealed, there are 702 roads in Ekiti state which constitute approximately 4,378.02km. Of these, there are 14 federal roads, amounting to 344km; 84 state roads, constituting 1,162km, and 604 rural roads which account for 2,872.02km.
Of all these, the state has priotised 98 roads to be rehabilitated across the three senatorial zones including 47 roads in Ekiti north; 22 in Ekiti central and 26 in Ekiti South.
In a recent interview, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Olayinka Oyebode revealed that 35 intra-city and inter-township roads have been constructed or rehabilitated in the last two and a half years, corroborating an earlier report which highlights 17 completed roads and 19 ongoing roads, and contrary to the claim by Hon. Bimbo Daramola’s 98 roads being rehabilitated.
In conclusion, available information reveals that, while 98 roads were priotised by Ekiti State for rehabilitation or construction, only 35 of them have been rehabilitated or constructed under governor Oyebanji; hence the claim is false.
