The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2027 election, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has promised to grant local government autonomy from his first day in office, if elected.
He also promised to make Oyo State one of the top three state economies in Nigeria, commit N10 billion to fund youths and increase the state’s internally generated revenue to N150 billion without putting a burden on the people and businesses.
Alli made the promises while unveiling his manifesto christened ‘My Pact’ to Oyo State stakeholders on Tuesday.
Explaining details of the document to representatives of community development associations, professional bodies, artisans, traders, politicians, labour leaders and other stakeholders in Ibadan, the state capital on Tuesday, Alli said his pact with the people of Oyo State was built on seven pillars under the acronym Oyo AHEAD.
According to him, Oyo AHEAD is a pact for local government autonomy, advancement of infrastructure, health reform, education and employment, agriculture and export, digital economy and security – all aimed at transforming the state economy, deliver superior public service that ensures residents feel impact of the government in every corner of the state.
His words: “Oyo State is the largest piece of land in southern Nigeria. We have 351 wards in 33 councils, and about eight million people.
A state like ours should be feeding the South West and selling to the world.
Last year, this State raised less than ₦100 billion as IGR. Ogun, our neighbour, raised nearly three times that figure.
Nearly half of our people, about 3.8 million, live in poverty, by the measure of our own national statistics office.
Our people work hard every day. With the right support, they can do far better.
“So here is where we are going.
We will make Oyo one of the top three state economies in Nigeria. Our first target on the way is ₦150 billion a year of our own revenue,
and the market woman will pay no more than she pays today.
“In every one of our 351 wards, there will be a clinic that works, a school that teaches,
and a road that leads somewhere. The path there is simple. Power brings the factory.
The factory brings the job. The job brings money into the home and the market,
and that revenue builds the school and the clinic.”
In infrastructure, Alli promised to complete ongoing road projects, construct farmland access roads that facilitate mobility of people and farm produce, with every new road carrying a 20-year warranty.
He promised to constitute the state electricity regulator to enable the state generate electricity to power industrial and farm corridors.
He said: “On power, we will fully constitute the state electricity regulator, generate power here in Oyo, and send dedicated supply to our industrial and farm corridors.
Faulty transformers will be audited and replaced every six months so that no street sits in darkness for a year.
“Today, barely one person in 75 in this state drinks water from a public pipe. Nine in 10 of our families depend on boreholes, wells and sachet water. We will restore potable water in 100 communities and connect at least 100 rural communities to power for the first time.
We will increase the number of our buses, and modernise the Pacesetter Transport Company to better serve the people of Oyo State.
“A teacher, a nurse, a young couple starting out should be able to own a decent home in the state they serve. So, we will work with the Federal Government, and with investors from here at home and abroad to build good homes that working families can afford.
We will cut the time and the cost of getting building approvals and we will grow our housing schemes for low and middle-income earners so that every family in Oyo State has a safe place to call home.”
On health, the governorship hopeful promised to build a general hospital in each of the remaining six local governments in the state, and recruit more doctors and other health workers to redress the current situation where 10 hospitals have no single medical doctor. He added that the government will consistently fill vacancies for health workers as they open, including in primary health centres.
Alli also promised free health insurance for infants, pregnant women and adults of 70 years old and above with the target of doubling the number of those enrolled on health insurance from the current figure of 271,000 to 500,000 in his first two years in office as governor.
On education, Alli promised 30 pupils per class, recruit more teachers and build more school facilities, build skills centre in every zone and pass apprenticeship law.
On economy, investments and job creation, he promised to build industrial parks,
revive the Oluyole Free Trade Zone,
and set up a guarantee fund to allow small businesses borrow as well as establish the Oyo Youth Fund which will start with ₦10 billion. A digital hub, he said, would be built in the five geopolitical zones of the state.
The governorship candidate promised to revive farm settlements, insure 10,000 farmers with Oyo Export Council setting up produce board to help farmers.
Oyo AHEAD also include a promise to rejig the state security architecture to ensure lives and property are safe, adding that civil servants will get their salaries and entitlements as at when due. They will also be empowered with work tools and get better work environments to stimulate improved productivity, he said.