Fayemi picks 74-year former local government chairman and commissioner Egbeyemi as running mate

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) Ekiti State governorship candidate Dr Kayode Fayemi has picked a 74-year old former chairman of Ado Ekiti Local Government Area Chief Adebisi Egbeyemi as his running mate for the forthcoming elections.

 

On July 14, Ekiti State goes to the polls to elect a new governor in what is a two-horse race between Dr Fayemi of the APC and incumbent deputy governor Professor Kolapo Olusola, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Already Professor Olusola has named another former local government chairman Deji Ogunsakin named as his running mate.

                    

Completing the line-up, Dr Fayemi, himself a former governor and only until this week, Nigeria's solid minerals minister, announced his running mate yesterday. Chief Egbeyemi, an indigene of Ado-Ekiti, was born on May 8, 1944 to the late Alade Egbeyemi and late Madam Tinubu Egbeyemi.

 

He started his education at the Holy Trinity Anglican School, Ilawe-Ekiti and Baptist School, Ado-Ekiti, after which he attended Harding Memorial Modern School, Ado-Ekiti. Chief Egbeyemi studied privately while working as a laboratory assistant at Ekitiparapo College, Ido-Ekiti and while toiling as a bursar at Notre Dame Grammar School, Usi-Ekiti, he sat as a private student to pass both the GCE O’Level and Advanced Level examinations.

 

After his A'Levels, Chief Egbeyemi later proceeded to the University of Lagos where he graduated with a B.Ed and Physical and Health Education with distinction. He taught briefly at the St Mary’s Girls Secondary School, Ikole-Ekiti in 1975 before he was transferred to the Teachers’ College, Oye-Ekiti, as a pioneer physical education tutor between 1975 and 1977.

 

He later went to the University of Ife to read Law between 1977 and 1980 before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School in Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1981 as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Chief Egbeyemi's  political experiences spans many fields, including being the youth leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983.

 

In addition, he was a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly in 1983 and then the executive chairman of Ado-Ekiti Local Government between 1991 and 1993. He was also the leader of the United Nigeria Congress Party in Ado-Ekiti Local Government between 1996 and 1997 and was founding member of the Alliance for Democracy, using the platform to win the House of Representatives election that was cancelled by dictator General Sani Abacha, in 1998.

 

Between 1991 and 1992, Chief Egbeyemi served as the commissioner of education and between 2001 and 2002, he was a member of the governing council of the National Teachers’ Institute, Kaduna. A receiver of many awards, he was appointed the Ekiti State commissioner for justice and attorney-general between 2002 and 2003.

 

He was a founding member and leader of the Action Congress in Ado-Ekiti Local Government and currently a foremost APC leader in Ekiti State. A top chieftaincy title holder in Ado-Ekiti, Chief Egbeyemi is married with children.

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