The Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) has challenged Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) chieftain, Bimbo Adekanmbi, to address concerns over local government administration, healthcare and education, rather than accusing Senator Sharafadeen Alli of copying government policies in his Oyo AHEAD manifesto.
The campaign organisation described the allegation as an attempt to divert attention from pressing governance issues raised in the manifesto, which outlines proposals for education, healthcare, agriculture, grassroots development and youth empowerment.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, SSACO said Alli’s experience in public service informed the proposals in his manifesto, stressing that he was not new to governance.
“Alli is not a newcomer learning governance from press releases. He was a Council Chairman, Secretary to the State Government, Chief of Staff and is now a serving Senator. That experience from the ward to the Senate is what positions him as the best for Oyo State. You cannot copy what you have lived,” the statement said.
SSACO accused Makinde and Adekanmbi of avoiding questions about what it described as the paralysis of local governments, understaffed primary healthcare centres and state hospitals, poorly funded schools and the growing number of out-of-school children.
On local government administration, the organisation claimed that the 33 councils in Oyo State had received about ₦873 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) since 2019, but alleged that none of their budgets was publicly available online.
It said Alli’s manifesto proposed an executive order on his first day in office to guarantee local government autonomy, ensure payments to councils on a fixed date and facilitate the monthly remittance of the 10 per cent of state revenue due to them.
On healthcare, SSACO alleged that six local government areas had no general hospital, while six general hospitals had no doctor as of last October. It further claimed that 10 hospitals had only one doctor each, while primary healthcare centres had an average of three workers, compared with a national standard of 24.
The organisation said Alli’s proposed Oyo Care programme would provide free healthcare for infants, pregnant women and residents aged 70 and above.
It added that the manifesto also proposed continuous recruitment of healthcare workers, provision of medical equipment and essential medicines, solar power for rural maternity centres and public health information dashboards in every ward.
On education, SSACO cited figures it attributed to the state’s school census, claiming that public primary school classrooms accommodated about 100 pupils each, while approximately 674,000 children between the ages of three and 17 were out of school.
It also claimed that seven in 10 children aged between seven and 14 could not perform basic arithmetic, describing the figures as evidence of the challenges facing the state’s education sector.
The organisation said Oyo AHEAD proposed reducing class sizes to 30 pupils, renovating schools across the 33 local government areas, introducing scholarships for gifted children from poor backgrounds and enacting an apprenticeship law.
It also proposed restoring school governing boards to parents and communities, alongside an agricultural development programme, a ₦10 billion youth fund, housing schemes for low- and middle-income earners and a 20-year warranty on newly constructed roads.
The campaign organisation also questioned the Makinde administration’s claim that Oyo State was the most liveable state, asking the government to provide the report, its publisher and the methodology used to reach the conclusion.
Reacting to the allegation that Alli copied the government’s one-primary-healthcare-centre-per-ward policy, SSACO argued that the existence of such a policy did not amount to effective implementation, given the staffing challenges it alleged in the facilities.
“They claim Oyo is the most liveable state but cannot produce the report, the publisher, or the methodology. They claim Alli copied one-PHC-per-ward, yet our PHCs have three workers instead of 24. That is not implementation. That is abandonment,” the statement said.
The organisation described Adekanmbi as representing continuity with the current administration, while presenting Alli’s Oyo AHEAD manifesto as an alternative approach to governance.
“Adekanmbi is not change. He is continuity of failure, continuity of centralisation, continuity of government-as-business. Oyo AHEAD is a correction. It is a covenant. And we will continue to highlight the issues that matter to the well-being of the people of Oyo State,” the statement added.
Kehinde Ayanboade
Kehinde Ayanboade is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Naija Metro News, with over eight years of experience covering Nigerian politics, crime, legislative proceedings and metropolitan affairs.
