Ekiti recruits 8,358 workers, generates N88.4bn IGR in four years – Gov Oyebanji

The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Tuesday, disclosed that the state government has employed no fewer than 8,358 workers into the state civil service, local governments, security outfits, among others in the last four years.

He also said that the state generated N88.4 billion as the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last four years.

Mr Oyebanji spoke while delivering the state of the state address at the Ekiti State House of Assembly complex, in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

The governor, who said that the economy of Ekiti State continues to hold an exciting promise in all ramifications, added that a quick summary of Ekiti’s GDP performance from the recently released NBS Report indicates that the overall State GDP moved from 2.4 trillion in 2019 to 4.6 trillion in 2023, a growth of 90 per cent.

He said recent projections suggest that Ekiti GDP now inches towards the N8.8 trillion mark.

“This has moved Ekiti from the 33rd position to the 28th since APC was given the mandate to govern the state. Similarly, our contribution to the national GDP grew from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent. Apparently, our economy is largely driven by trade, which contributed 1.7 trillion (37 per cent) and agriculture, which contributed 1.05 trillion (23 per cent). Both sectors contribute 60 per cent to the state’s economy,” he said.

On the employment created in the past four years, the governor said, “Since we assumed office, we have employed qualified persons in strategic places of need. The Civil Service Commission employed 41 senior officers in 2025 and the Office of Establishment and Service Matters has employed 340 junior officers.

“Similarly, the Local Government Service Commission also employed 774 persons to fill consequential vacancies in 2025. So far, this administration has employed 6,530 teachers into both the public primary and secondary schools in the state. We employed 3,530 into the Teaching Service Commission and 3,000 into the State Universal Basic Education Board.

“In the security sector, we employed another set of personnel numbering over 600 to join the Ametokun Corps and the newly created Agro Marshal Corps, respectively, while Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency also took in an additional 73 traffic officers,” he said.

Speaking on the state IGR, Mr Oyebanji said when he took over in 2022, the average IGR of the state hovered around N650 million to N700 million monthly, totaling N8.7 billion in 2022, and that by the end of 2023, it had surged to N12 billion.

“The trend continued in 2024 with a reconciled figure of N17.6 billion; in 2025, we grossed N27.1 billion. As at the last reconciliation in June this year, we have already attained N15.6 billion, with all indications that we would near the N32billion mark at the end of the year, as we currently do average of N2.6 billion monthly.

“The growth per year indicated 38 per cent in 2023, 47% in 2024, 53 per cent in 2025 and about 60 per cent in 2026. Cumulatively speaking, we have generated the sum of N88.4billion as IGR in the last four years.

“The independent data from the Joint Revenue Board confirmed that 2025 was an exceptional year for Ekiti State’s revenue administration. The state grew Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by 62.13 per cent, faster than any other state in the South-west and faster than 26 other States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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“We increased our share of the national Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and now fund a third of our total expenditure from our IGR. We hope to maintain this momentum going forward.

The governor attributed the achievements to the institutional re-organisation, transformation of the tax administration and improved business environment.

“All of this is possible because of the impact of the institutional re-organisation, digital transformation of tax administration, expansion of the tax net and improved business environment.

“It is for this reason that we have intentionally given more attention to trade, investment and agriculture since they have proved to be areas of our comparative advantage. With our deliberate investment in aviation and tourism, we hope to further diversify our economic base in the new tenure,” he said.