A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Kehinde Olaosebikan, has said that Oyo State needs a governor who will effectively deliver democracy dividends and create wealth.
Olaosebikan, who is the Director for Strategy and Communications, All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council in Oyo State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that a pragmatic leader was what the state required.
According to him, a creator of wealth is needed, not just someone waiting for federal allocations at the end of every month.
He expressed optimism that Sen. Sharafadeen Alli the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State would emerge victorious in the upcoming Feb. 6, election.
According to him, for the first time since 1999, the APC has a candidate who leads in qualification, experience, acceptance, structure, and in moral authority.
“That candidate is Sen. Sharafadeen Alli. This is not propaganda. It is arithmetic, it is history.
It is the convergence of every factor that has ever decided an Oyo election, now all pointing in one direction,” he said.
Olaosebikan, a former Chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area in Oyo State, said that Alli’s position, credentials, antecedents and political profile would guarantee his victory at the poll.
The media aide of former governor Lam Adesina of Oyo State, said that the defection of high profile political office holders in the state into the APC was a plus for its governorship candidate.
“The highest political office holder in Gov. Seyi Makinde’s cabinet, his Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi led 36 other highly powerful leaders of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) across the state to join the APC,” he said.
Olaosebikan said that the collapse of the coalitions that brought Makinde to power in 2019 and 2023 and recent defection of some of his top aides were factors that would work for Alli.
“A number of key loyalists and pillars of the government and political structure of Gov. Makinde have not just abandoned him and his party, they have joined the APC and mobilising effectively for the emergence of Alli as Oyo’s next governor.
“Prominent and formidable political leaders including Sen. Hosea Ayoola, former political adviser to the governor, Alase Babatunde Oduyoye; the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning and others have all left him,” he said.
Olaosebikan added that those who used their energies and resources to defend Makinde and ensure his electoral victory in the past had also defected to the APC.
He said that Ayobami Ojo, Makinde’s Special Adviser on Budget and Economic Planning, Adegbola Oyeleke, Sunday Falana, a member of OYSIEC; among others, also recently parted ways with him and his party, the APM.
The APC chieftain further said that key political figures including Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin, founder of Ilaji Farms and Resorts, Chief Dotun Sanusi and a former Deputy Governor of the state, Taofeek Arapaja, had also defected to the APC to support Alli.
Olaosebikan described the development as a political earthquake that would work in the interest of Alli, the APC and the people of the state generally.
According to him, the state’s past king makers are all now in the APC and in total support of Sharafadeen Alli, campaigning for him and other APC candidates.
“The very men and women who made victory possible for Makinde in 2019 and 2023 are now working assiduously for the emergence of Alli as the next governor of Oyo State.
“When the builders of the old house move to build a new house, the old house empties and eventually crumbles.
“Beyond politics, Oyo people are tired of promises without delivery,” he said.
Olaosebikan added that the people of the state needed a governor they could relate with who would ensure effective delivery of democracy dividends, not a stooge of a governor-godfather.
“They are tired of a government that is loud on social media but silent in the farms, markets, in the classrooms, and hospitals.
“The people want a governor who knows the state and the roads leading to each local government area and not by Google map”.
According to him, Alli has been local government chairman, Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company, Secretary to the State Governor (SSG), and Chief of Staff to former Gov. Rasidi Ladoja.
“They need a governor who has chaired Oodua Group and knows how to create wealth, not just spend allocation.
“A governor who knows the position of elders and leaders in society, and honours them, Olaosebiakan said.
