The Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO) has mocked Governor Seyi Makinde and the governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement in Oyo State, Bimbo Adekanmbi, over the poor turnout recorded at the party’s campaign flag-off in Oyo town on Saturday.
The organisation described the attendance at the rally as a sign of the alleged declining popularity of the party and predicted that Adekanmbi would struggle to secure widespread support in the 2027 governorship election.
The rally, held at Durbar Stadium, Oyo, was organised to formally kick-start Adekanmbi’s governorship campaign and that of other APM candidates contesting National and State Assembly seats.
However, SSACO said the turnout fell short of expectations, despite months of planning and mobilisation across the 33 local government areas of the state. It also pointed to the absence of some candidates as evidence of what it described as the party’s weak grassroots appeal.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, the organisation said the rally had exposed the political challenges confronting Makinde and Adekanmbi ahead of the next general elections.
SSACO alleged that the governor was deploying state resources to support Adekanmbi’s ambition and pursue what it described as an unrealistic presidential project.
It said, “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 organisation argued that the alleged poor performance of the state government in agriculture, youth development, industrialisation and rural infrastructure could affect the political fortunes of the governor’s preferred candidate.
It also accused the Makinde administration of neglecting rural roads and damaged bridges, blaming the situation on what it described as the paralysis of local government councils.
SSACO further said the people of the state would not forget what it called the failure of the government to deliver meaningful democratic dividends during its seven-and-a-half years in office.
The statement added, “Governor Seyi Makinde told the little crowd that Nigerians would show the APC what it had never seen before in the 2027 elections.
“Ironically, the people of Oyo State used Saturday’s campaign to tell Governor Makinde what he was not ready to hear: Your time is over; therefore, your stooge does not stand a chance.”
The organisation said its principal, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, would adopt a different approach to governance if elected governor in 2027.
According to SSACO, Alli’s Oyo AHEAD agenda would prioritise functional local government administration, cooperation with the Federal Government and efforts to address what it described as the shortcomings of the Makinde administration since 2019.
