The Oyo AHEAD manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, lacks originality and offers no transformative idea, according to the campaign council of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Oyo State. The claim is made in a statement issued today and has not been independently verified.
What the APM says about the Oyo AHEAD manifesto
The statement is signed by Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, co-director (media and publicity) of the Oyo APM Campaign Council. It says the document is “long on recycled promises” and short on a distinct vision. It lists promises such as more teachers, better hospitals, prompt salaries and pension reforms, and calls them standard fare in Nigerian gubernatorial manifestos.
The council also says a serious manifesto must explain what is wrong with the current system and what new approach would fix it. In its view, the Oyo AHEAD manifesto answers the first question at length but offers little that is new on the second. It argues that a challenger seeking to unseat an incumbent administration carries a higher burden of proof.
Healthcare: the Oyo AHEAD manifesto and the one-PHC-per-ward policy
The APM’s central example is healthcare. It argues that the manifesto’s flagship pledge mirrors a policy the state government has pursued for years.
Public records show the policy exists. Governor Makinde said his administration would revitalise at least 351 primary health care centres, one per ward. The governor’s own campaign material says an additional 51 centres would be renovated to bring the total to 351, one in each ward, before the end of his tenure. Whether that target has been fully met is not established in the sources reviewed.
The APM statement also says the manifesto contains no new healthcare financing model, no civil service modernisation plan and no technology-driven governance framework.
Oyo AHEAD manifesto: background on the APC candidate and the race
Alli’s campaign organisation described the manifesto before its launch as a practical, people-centred roadmap meant to restore Oyo to pace-setting status. Elsewhere, Alli has pledged to restore school governing boards, cap classes at 30 pupils and provide free education from primary to junior secondary level.
The APM’s own candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi, has taken a different line. He has pledged to build on the achievements of Governor Makinde if elected in 2027. That makes continuity a feature of both the incumbent camp and the criticism of the APC document, so voters in the Oyo governorship election 2027 will likely weigh how each side defines “new.”
