The Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) has punctured claims by Governor Seyi Makinde and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, that Senator Sharafadeen Alli copied state government policies in his “Oyo AHEAD” manifesto.
The group described the claim as false and a diversion from key governance issues in Oyo State.
Its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, said the manifesto outlines practical solutions to challenges in education, health, agriculture, grassroots development and youth development.
Oladele said Alli has a rich public service record as former council chairman, Secretary to the State Government, Chief of Staff and serving Senator.
“Alli is not a newcomer learning governance from press releases. 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,” he said.
He said Makinde and Adekanmbi have refused to address concerns raised in the manifesto, including local government paralysis, understaffed health centres and the high number of out-of-school children.
According to SSACO, Oyo’s 33 local governments have received about ₦873 billion from FAAC since 2019, yet no council budget is published online. It said Alli plans to issue an Executive Order on his first day in office to guarantee local government autonomy and ensure regular remittance of funds.
Commenting on health, the organisation said six councils have no general hospital, six general hospitals had no doctor as of October last year, 10 had only one doctor, while PHCs have an average of three workers against the national standard of 24.
It said Alli’s health plan, Oyo Care, will provide free healthcare for infants, pregnant women and residents above 70, recruit more health workers, equip hospitals and provide solar power for rural maternities.
The group cited the state’s school census showing about 100 pupils per classroom in public primary schools, about 674,000 out-of-school children — the highest in the South-West — and seven in 10 children aged 7 to 14 unable to do basic sums.
It said Oyo AHEAD proposes 30 pupils per class, renovation of schools across the 33 local governments, scholarships for indigent but brilliant students, an Apprenticeship Law and return of School Governing Boards to communities.
It added: “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.
“Adekanmbi is not change. He is continuity of failure, continuity of centralisation, continuity of government-as-business.”