His capacity is not a surprise to many who saw him calling the bluff of the Corona virus disease of 2019 (Covid-19) which erupted about six months into his admnistration. He refused to lock Oyo State down, setting his people free and emerging an hero who saved them from socio-economic paralysis experienced in other states of the federation. That was his model of governance. That is Governor Seyi Makinde.
In politics now, Makinde is operating at another unusual realm, constituting a major opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples’s Movement (APM), talking tough and winning new converts to the party by the day.
The latest harvest which Makinde recorded were members of the APC whom he officially received on Monday, September 21 at the Open Tennis Court of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan at an explosive gathering which looked like though the entire Ibadan populace had melted into a political unit.
Tagged the Boye Nation/JAF Movement Mega Concert, the event saw the new members in their enthusiasm best openly relishing their new home where they said awaiting them was fairness of which they were robbed in their former broom party.
Led by the Personal Assistant and loyalist to former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Mr Sangodare Ajiboye (Boye Nation), the defectors were drawn from local government areas across the state, singing a victory song after their experience in their former party.
Welcoming them, Makinde threw a punch at the APC governorship candidate, Barrister Sharafadeen Alli, advising him to channel his efforts towards contesting against the APM candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi, rather than criticising his administration and standing by his word that Alli is a mediocre lawyer unfit to govern Oyo State.
The governor urged Alli to focus on persuading the electorate to support him, though he expressed confidence that voters would choose Adekanmbi, a certified accountant, over Alli, whom he described as a lawyer with no record of success in legal practice.
The governor also addressed criticisms that, as an engineer, he powers streetlights with diesel generators. He noted that if the APC led Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had successfully resolved Nigeria’s electricity challenges, the situation would have been different. He reminded Nigerians of Tinubu’s campaign promise that he should not be re elected if he failed to fix the nation’s power problem.
“God has signed off on what we are doing, and that is why it is raining. Today, we are welcoming thousands of APC members into the Allied People’s Movement (APM), and this shows that our victory is only a matter of time. We will win massively in all elections in 2027.
“This is why I encourage the APC governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, to focus his energy on convincing the people of Oyo State to support him despite the hardship brought upon them by his party. He should focus on the APM governorship candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi, instead of attacking our administration.
“He said I am an engineer yet we power streetlights with diesel. I believe he is pained because I said he is an unsuccessful lawyer. But where is the lie? I am an engineer and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers — meaning I have excelled in my chosen career. The candidate we are presenting to you, Adekanmbi, is a graduate of Accounting and a professional who is also a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, the highest qualification in the profession.
“Ask Alli if he has any recognition in his own profession. He is not a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. On powering streetlights with diesel generators, remind them that their leader was the one who said that if he didn’t fix Nigeria’s electricity problem within his first four years, no one should vote for him again. If he had fulfilled that promise, we would not be powering streetlights with diesel,” he said.
The concert, themed “Young, United, Unstoppable (YUU)”, featured electrifying performances by Fuji stars including Alhaji Taye Currency, Alhaji Tiri Leather, Babatunmise, Ododo Emi, Ajao Samson Ajeseun Band and Aare Rasaq Ayanfe, among others.
The event was attended by top government officials including the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Musibau Babatunde; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, Ph.D; serving members of the House of Representatives and the Oyo State House of Assembly; commissioners; APM leaders; and other government functionaries.
Also present were the three APM senatorial candidates; Hon. Dhikrullahi Stanley Olajide Odidiomo (Oyo South), Hon. Shina Peller (Oyo North), and Hon. Ajadi Oguntoyinbo (Oyo Central), as well as 14 APM House of Representatives candidates, 32 APM House of Assembly candidates, and the 33 APM Local Government Chairmanship candidates.
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