The Oyo State Secretary of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Ademola Oke, has dismissed claims that members of the All Progressives Congress defected to the party, describing the purported defection as untrue.

Oke said the state executive of the APM was not aware of any formal defection from the APC, insisting that none of the party’s 351 ward chairmen attended the gathering at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan.

The APM scribe was reacting to claims surrounding the gathering, which he said should not be interpreted as a mass movement of APC members into the APM.

He said, “APM is a structured party. Nobody defected to our party. We have procedures for defection, and none of the APC structures, from ward to state level, joined us.

“How could people join us and there was no communication between us?”

Oke urged members of the public to disregard claims of a major influx of APC members into the APM, saying political defections could only be recognised when they were properly communicated through the relevant party structures.

He said the gathering at Adamasingba should not be presented as a formal political defection involving APC members.

According to him, none of the 351 ward chairmen of the APM was present at the event, arguing that the absence of the party’s grassroots structures raised questions about claims of a major political movement.

“Genuine defections should be identified through the appropriate party structures and procedures, not through hired crowds and concerts at a CAF-rejected stadium,” Oke added.

The APM secretary maintained that the party remained a structured political organisation with established procedures for admitting defectors, stressing that no such process had taken place in relation to the alleged APC defection.

The campaign organisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has criticised Governor Seyi Makinde over the state government’s reliance on diesel-powered generators for streetlights, questioning the fate of its N8.5 billion independent power project (IPP).

The campaign organisation, in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, said the governor could not continue to blame inadequate electricity supply for the use of fuel-powered generators when the state had acquired regulatory powers to develop its electricity market.

It argued that the Electricity Act 2023 had opened the way for states to develop intrastate electricity markets and attract private investment into power generation and distribution.

Oyo State subsequently established the Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OYSERC), while regulatory oversight of the state’s intrastate electricity market was transferred from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to the state regulator in August 2024. NERC said the transfer was carried out pursuant to the Electricity Act 2023.

The campaign organisation said: “Governor Makinde, therefore, has no excuse for his own incompetence and glaring failure.”

It specifically questioned the outcome of the 11-megawatt Oyo State Independent Power Project awarded to Elektron Energy.

According to the campaign, the project, which it put at N8.5 billion, failed to deliver the expected value to residents despite the money committed to it.

However, records from the governor’s office show that the project was conceived as an 11MW hybrid power solution comprising 10MW of gas-fired generation and 1MW of solar power, to supply government facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and adjoining areas. The project was structured on a Build-Operate-Transfer model.

The first phase of the project was commissioned in December 2024. Elektron Energy said the commissioned facility combined 10MW of gas generation, 1MW of solar power and a 1MWh battery energy storage system.

The Alli campaign, however, said the project had not produced the benefits promised by the administration.

It also questioned the continued operation of diesel-powered streetlights on major roads across the state, alleging that the generators were expensive to maintain and had become a recurring drain on public resources.

“Even the diesel-guzzling streetlights are no longer working, leaving many major roads dark at night,” the statement said.

The campaign organisation further challenged the state government to explain why the power project had not provided a sustainable electricity source for public infrastructure, including streetlights, the state Secretariat in Agodi and health facilities which, it said, had been listed among the intended beneficiaries.

It compared Oyo’s experience with developments in other states, citing Abia’s 188MW Geometric Power project and Akwa Ibom’s 191MW Ibom Power plant.

Abia State’s government confirms that the 188MW Geometric Power Plant was commissioned in February 2024 to supply electricity within the Aba ring-fenced area, while Ibom Power’s own records put its installed Phase One capacity at 191MW.

The campaign also faulted Makinde for citing poor electricity supply as a reason for continued dependence on diesel generators.

It said the explanation was particularly troubling given the governor’s professional background as an electrical engineer.

“The purpose of leadership is to solve problems, not to repeatedly describe them or use them as excuses for failure,” the statement said.

It added that after more than seven years in office, the governor should be held responsible for problems within the state’s authority and capacity to address.

The campaign organisation proposed a power strategy built around solar-powered streetlights, embedded generation, renewable energy, independent distribution networks and increased private-sector investment.

It said these would form part of Senator Alli’s agenda if elected governor of Oyo State.

The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Adesoji Adedeji, has said the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, will ensure that development is evenly spread across the state if elected in the 2027 governorship election.

Adedeji said the proposed Alli administration would take infrastructure development beyond Ibadan to Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa, Oyo and other parts of the state.

He spoke while addressing supporters of the party in Ibadan on Friday.

According to him, the APC candidate has promised to pursue a development agenda that would ensure that no part of the state is left behind.

“Sen. Alli has promised the people of Oyo State that there would be improvements in infrastructure, not only in Ibadan. There would be improvements in infrastructure in Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa, Oyo and every nook and cranny of Oyo State,” Adedeji said.

He added that the proposed administration would prioritise healthcare by ensuring that every local government had a functional hospital.

“He has promised that every local government will have a functional hospital, and that the land belonging to our people will not be sold.” he said.

Adedeji also pledged that an APC administration under Alli would grant local governments full autonomy in financial and administrative matters.

“On behalf of my principal, there will be full autonomy of local government, both in finance and administration. Every local government will receive all that is due to them,” he said.

The APC deputy governorship candidate further criticised the handling of local government administration by the present government, saying the party’s proposed administration would introduce a different approach to grassroots governance.

“I am telling the present administration that it has less than six months to leave and see how local government should be run, not the way they have done it,” he said.

He consequently urged the people of Oyo State to embrace what he described as the new system of governance being proposed by Alli, saying the administration would focus on spreading development across the state rather than concentrating it in Ibadan.

Adedeji said the APC ticket represented an opportunity for residents across the state to benefit from improved infrastructure, healthcare and stronger local government administration.