AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State for the 2027 election, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has unveiled his manifesto, tagged ‘My Pact’, promising to grant local government autonomy from his first day in office if elected.
Alli also pledged to make Oyo State one of the three largest state economies in Nigeria, establish a N10 billion youth fund and increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N150 billion annually without imposing additional financial burdens on residents and businesses.
He made the promises on Tuesday while presenting the manifesto to stakeholders drawn from community development associations, professional bodies, artisans, traders, political groups, labour unions and other sectors at an event in Ibadan, the state capital.
The manifesto, which revolves around seven development pillars under the acronym Oyo AHEAD, focuses on local government autonomy, advancement of infrastructure, health reform, education and employment, agriculture and export, digital economy and security.
Explaining the vision behind the document, Alli said Oyo State, with its 33 local government areas, 351 wards and an estimated population of eight million, had the potential to become a leading economic force in the country.
He, however, lamented that the state generated less than N100 billion in IGR in the previous year, compared with nearly three times that amount recorded by neighbouring Ogun State, while about 3.8 million residents remained in poverty.
The APC candidate said his administration would pursue an annual revenue target of N150 billion through economic expansion rather than increased taxation, insisting that market women and other residents would not pay more than they currently do.
On infrastructure, Alli promised to complete ongoing road projects, construct access roads to farming communities and introduce a 20-year warranty on newly constructed roads. He also pledged to establish a fully functional state electricity regulatory body, develop power generation capacity and provide dedicated electricity to industrial and agricultural corridors.
He further promised to restore potable water supply in 100 communities, connect at least 100 rural communities to electricity for the first time, replace faulty transformers every six months and modernise the Pacesetter Transport Company through an increase in the number of buses.
In the housing sector, Alli said his government would collaborate with the Federal Government and private investors to provide affordable homes for low- and middle-income earners, while reducing the cost and time required to obtain building approvals.
On healthcare, the governorship hopeful promised to establish general hospitals in the six local government areas yet to have such facilities and recruit more doctors and other health professionals to address manpower shortages in public hospitals.
He disclosed that 10 hospitals in the state currently had no medical doctor, promising that vacancies in health facilities, including primary healthcare centres, would be filled as they arise.
Alli also pledged free health insurance for infants, pregnant women and residents aged 70 and above, with a target of increasing enrolment from the current 271,000 to 500,000 within his first two years in office.
In education, he promised to limit classroom populations to 30 pupils, recruit additional teachers, expand school infrastructure, establish skills acquisition centres in every geopolitical zone and introduce an apprenticeship law to promote vocational training.
On economic development and job creation, Alli pledged to establish industrial parks, revive the Oluyole Free Trade Zone and introduce a guarantee fund to improve small businesses’ access to credit. He also promised to establish a N10 billion Oyo Youth Fund and build digital hubs across the state’s five geopolitical zones.
The APC candidate further promised to revive moribund farm settlements, provide insurance coverage for 10,000 farmers and establish a produce board through the proposed Oyo Export Council to support agricultural production and export.
On security, he said his administration would restructure the state’s security architecture to strengthen the protection of lives and property, while assuring civil servants of prompt payment of salaries and entitlements, improved working conditions and the provision of necessary work tools.
Alli said the seven pillars of Oyo AHEAD were designed to transform the state’s economy, improve public service delivery and ensure that residents across the 351 wards feel the impact of government through accessible infrastructure, quality education, functional healthcare and economic opportunities.
