Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State 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 was gathered that Governor Oyebanji left Nigeria on Sunday, May 5, 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 was also 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.