| Biodun Oyebanji. |
The Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji is alleged to
be “missing” in action as his whereabouts is unknown two weeks after visiting
the United States of America.
Reports
have it that the Governor has reportedly failed to return to the country nearly
two weeks after he left for a four-day conference in Texas, the United States.
It is said that he left Nigeria on Sunday, the 5th of
May, 2024, to attend the 16th edition of the US-Africa Business Summit
organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), in Dallas, Texas between
May 6 and 9, 2024.
The US trip according to information reaching “News
Platform” was announced in an official press statement signed by the
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Yinka Oyebode.
The statement said the summit, with the theme, ‘US-Africa
Business: Partnering for Sustainable Success’, is a platform for collaboration
on trade, investment and innovation among Heads of national and sub-national
governments; financial institutions, investors, agencies and institutions.
The statement said, “Governor Oyebanji will also participate in
the nineteenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF19), holding
at the UN Headquarters in New York.
“The Governor will take part in the Forum’s policy sessions on
implementation of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests (UNSPF) alongside other
invited Heads of state, senior officials of government, private sectors and
stakeholders.
“Before returning to Nigeria, the Governor will also hold
discussions with critical stakeholders and business leaders in the US in
furtherance of the shared prosperity agenda of the administration.”
However, the governor has not returned from the US and there has
been no official information providing the details of any official engagements
or meetings held by the governor since the conference ended on May 9.
It is understood that there is no official information or
provision of any pictures of meetings the governor held with the businesss
leaders nor the names of such persons.
A source told SaharaReporters on Thursday that the governor was
supposed to have returned but was surprised that he was still away.
As of the time of filing this report, the state government has
not disclosed the whereabouts of the governor.