APC campaign challenges APM candidate to produce corruption report against Alli, insists senator prioritised workers’ welfare as Ibadan North chairman
The campaign organisation of Senator Sharafadeen Alli, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State, has dismissed allegations by the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) candidate, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, over local government autonomy, describing them as falsehoods aimed at tarnishing the senator’s image ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The exchange followed Adekanmbi’s challenge to Alli to explain what he had done in the Senate over the past three years to advance local government autonomy, accusing him of making promises on the issue without presenting any legislative initiative to support them.
Adekanmbi, who spoke during an appearance on Fresh FM Ibadan’s Political Circuit programme, also questioned Alli’s record as former chairman of Ibadan North Local Government, alleging that his administration failed to meet its obligations to workers.
However, the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO), in a statement issued on Saturday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Bisi Oladele, rejected the allegations, accusing the APM candidate of distorting historical facts for political advantage.
The campaign organisation maintained that Alli, while serving as chairman of Ibadan North Local Government, prioritised workers’ welfare and maintained prompt salary payments, a record it said earned him recognition from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Oyo State.
It attributed the financial difficulties experienced by local governments during the period to the Federal Military Government’s January 1993 policy on staff promotions and salary increases, which it said created a nationwide funding crisis because allocations were insufficient to implement the policy.
According to SSACO, the challenges continued beyond Alli’s tenure and were subsequently addressed through institutional reforms, including the establishment of the National Primary Education Commission in 1997 and the introduction of first-line deductions for teachers’ salaries by 1999.
The organisation challenged Adekanmbi to produce the report allegedly indicting Alli for corruption or face a defamation suit.
It accused the APM candidate and his associates of exploiting historical challenges to mislead voters, insisting that the allegations would not diminish the APC candidate’s political standing.
Earlier, Adekanmbi had argued that local government autonomy could not be granted unilaterally by any state governor, insisting that constitutional amendments and executive implementation were necessary to give effect to the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment on direct allocation of funds to local governments.
He said the issue required more than campaign promises, arguing that any proposed framework must address funding shortfalls for salaries and pensions, fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability, as well as the sustainability of local government finances if federal allocations were disrupted.
The APM candidate also maintained that the Oyo State Government’s implementation of the Joint Allocation Committee (JAAC) arrangement was rooted in the existing legal framework and argued that Governor Seyi Makinde lacked the constitutional power to independently grant local governments full financial autonomy.
Adekanmbi said his approach, if elected governor, would be to examine the challenges facing local governments and ensure that residents had a say in how funds meant for their communities were spent.
In its response, SSACO accused the Makinde administration of weakening local government administration in Oyo State and denying residents the benefits of effective grassroots governance.
The organisation said Alli, if elected governor in 2027, would revitalise the state’s 33 local government areas by strengthening their administrative and financial capacities.
It added that his priorities would include reconstructing feeder and access roads to facilitate the movement of people and goods and stimulate economic activities across the state.
SSACO expressed confidence that voters would reject Adekanmbi and Makinde in the 2027 elections, urging the APM candidate to focus on issue-based political engagement rather than what it described as attempts to rewrite history for partisan purposes.
The exchange has brought local government autonomy and the respective candidates’ records on grassroots administration into focus as political activities gather momentum ahead of the 2027 Oyo State governorship election.
