The Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) has urged the Oyo State governorship candidate of the APM, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, and his sponsor, Governor Seyi Makinde, to read the poor attendance at Saturday’s campaign flag-off in Oyo town as a reliable signal of the failure awaiting them in next year’s presidential and governorship elections.
Campaign flag-off at Durbar Stadium draws criticism
The rally, held at Durbar Stadium in Oyo town, was meant to formally launch the 2027 governorship campaign of Hon. Adekanmbi and the party’s candidates for the National and State Assemblies. It followed months of planning and mobilisation of members from the 33 local governments of the state. Yet, according to SSACO, the event became an embarrassing outing.
In a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, SSACO said the poor attendance, including the absence of some candidates, vindicated the Oyo APC’s position that the APM lacks grassroots appeal and meaningful popularity in the state. It added that the party therefore lacks the capacity to attract widespread support ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“The embarrassing poor attendance at the Oyo State APM governorship campaign flag-off in Oyo town on Saturday was another confirmation that Oyo State people have rejected the party’s governorship candidate, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, and his sponsor, Governor Seyi Makinde,” the statement said.
What the campaign flag-off means for Makinde’s 2027 ambition
SSACO accused Governor Makinde of sinking Oyo State funds into Adekanmbi’s governorship bid and what it called his unrealistic presidential project. It said both men had their egos badly bruised on Saturday. “For Governor Makinde and Hon. Adekanmbi, it was a sad reality to face, and a bitter pill to swallow,” the group said.
It then asked whether the people would forget how they had been robbed of democracy dividends in the last seven and a half years. It also asked whether they would forget how agriculture, youth development and industrialisation have suffered under Governor Makinde. According to SSACO, the people also remember the rural roads and damaged bridges that have received no attention because local government councils are paralysed.
This Saturday, Oyo State people have told Governor Seyi Makinde, on whose credibility Hon. Adekanmbi is running, that a government of deceit can last for eight years, but the people who are the victims will never forget,” the group said.
Makinde’s remarks at the campaign flag-off
SSACO described as interesting Governor Makinde’s remark to the small crowd that Nigerians would show the APC in 2027 what it has not seen before. Ironically, it said, Oyo State people used the same campaign flag-off to tell the governor what he was not ready to hear: “your time is over; therefore, your stooge does not stand a chance.”
SSACO’s promise for the Oyo governorship election 2027
Looking ahead, the group pledged that Senator Sharafadeen Alli, if elected, would allow local governments to operate. It said he would also align with the Federal Government and fix what it called the rot of Governor Makinde’s bad governance since 2019 through his Oyo AHEAD agenda.
