The Oyo State Government has described a statement credited to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, blaming Governor ‘Seyi Makinde for the various national economic woes as a demonstration of incompetence.
The Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation had reportedly issued a statement blaming the governor for the excruciating hardship across the country.
National economic woes and Alli’s incompetence
However, Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, stated in a release, on Thursday, that such a statement was “a pure proof of the incompetence paraded by both the candidate and his team.
“At a time when Nigerians are grappling with one of the most severe economic crises in decades, it is deeply irresponsible to replace facts with theatrics.
“The hardship citizens face today is rooted in national macroeconomic decisions that have reshaped the fiscal landscape for every state.
“Any attempt to localise or personalise these challenges is not only misleading but fundamentally dishonest,” the governor’s media aide added in the release.
He averred that the current economic situation in Nigeria was not as a result of failures of governance at the state level.
He added that it was rather the direct consequence of national policy choices that have transformed the fiscal environment across the federation.
“In 2023, the naira traded around ₦450–₦470 per dollar at the official window. Today, following currency unification, it fluctuates between ₦1,400 and ₦1,600, a depreciation of between 200 per cent and 250 per cent.
“This collapse has driven up the cost of food, medicine, transport, and production inputs nationwide. No state governor can shield citizens from the inflationary shock triggered by such a dramatic currency decline.
“The removal of petrol subsidy in mid-2023 further intensified the crisis. Transport costs surged, food prices spiked, and inflation climbed above 30 per cent, the highest in two decades. As a direct result, poverty deepened nationwide.
“In 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated that about 40 per cent of Nigerians lived below the poverty line.
“Today, various assessments, including those by the World Bank, indicate that well over 46–50 per cent of Nigerians are now in poverty. Millions have been pushed into hardship in less than two years.
“These are national economic outcomes, not failures attributable to any individual state.
“Unfortunately, these facts are beyond the comprehension of the Oyo State APC gubernatorial candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who has chosen to reduce complex national economic realities to pedestrian political blame shifting.
“His attempt to hold Governor ‘Seyi Makinde responsible for nationwide macroeconomic shocks is both uninformed and disingenuous.
“Even the increased FAAC allocations celebrated by the Alli Campaign Organisation are not evidence of federal ingenuity.
“FAAC inflows rise when oil prices increase, when subsidy deductions reduce, and when the naira weakens because oil is sold in dollars.
“States may receive more money, but that money buys far less than it did two years ago. A ₦10 billion allocation today cannot deliver the same value as ₦10 billion in 2022.
“Higher nominal revenue in an inflationary environment is not prosperity; it is erosion. This is what my Principal means when he says “Voodoo Economy”,” he added.
He further stated that to blame a governor for hunger during a period of currency collapse, subsidy removal, and historic inflation was not policy analysis, but political posturing.
“Of course, expecting Senator Alli, who is addled, to understand this may be asking for too much,” Olanrewaju stated.
He further dismissed as equally misplaced the accusation that Governor Makinde “criminally” opposes local government autonomy.
“Local government autonomy is a constitutional matter currently under judicial review and legislative consideration.
“For clarity, the APC-led Federal Government obtained a Supreme Court judgment on this issue nearly two years ago but has failed to implement it.
“Why then should Governor Makinde be blamed for the Federal Government’s inability to execute its own judgment?
“How Senator Alli, a lawyer, does not understand that, with the State Joint Local Government Account Allocation Committee still embedded in the constitution, “local government autonomy” remains a misnomer is beyond me.
The truth is clear: Nigeria is experiencing one of its most difficult economic periods in decades. The naira’s collapse, soaring inflation, subsidy removal, and rising poverty have reshaped the economic realities of every state.
“No governor, irrespective of party, can reverse nationwide macroeconomic shocks through state level spending alone.
“But of course, a campaign organisation built on shallow analysis cannot grasp this,” Governor Makinde’s media aide stated.
