Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Oyo State Chapter, Mr Olawale Sadare, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) no longer exist in the state, declaring that what is operating is SMP (‘Seyi Makinde Party).
He stated this in an exclusive interview with NewscovenTV, the television arm of Newscoven.com, alleging that Governor Makinde is running a one-man show in the state.
The APC spokesperson also expressed confidence that the party will reclaim the seat of governance in Oyo State in 2027, noting that its leadership and members have learnt from the mistakes of the past which led to the party losing out in the 2019 and 2023 governorship elections.
“As things stand now, PDP is not the ruling party in Oyo State. There is no PDP in power in the state. What we have in power today in the state is the ‘Seyi Makinde Party (SMP).
“Governor ‘Seyi Makinde has arrogated every authority to himself; he has become autocratic. He is running a one-man show in the state.
“You will have to agree with me that PDP itself is now a deplorable structure in the state. The party is in coma, as we speak today. It is practically non-existent,” the APC spokesperson said.
When asked if he or the APC can rescue the Oyo PDP from coma, Sadare said: “If I were to be a doctor, I will not have a patient like the PDP, for obvious reasons. I would rather refer them to someone else.
“On a more serious note, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde has every opportunity to transform Oyo State. He has every opportunity to put Oyo State side-by-side with the most advanced state in Nigeria and beyond.
“But it appears that he has missed all the opportunities. Forget all the noise, all the propaganda and all the media creation that people are being fed with.
“How on earth can you have a governor who has unhindered access to enormous resources and yet, he keeps celebrating pettiness; he keeps celebrating under-achievement.
“From 2019 till date, Oyo State has been having mellifluous access to huge allocations from Abuja but that does not translate to great achievements in terms of what one boast of. How do I mean?
“Some people were here, either as military governors or as civilian governors, and they had access to little resources. Yet, they achieved a lot. They were creative in their thinking; they were innovative. They saw beyond their immediate environment, as at that time. And they were able to in place things that would outlive their tenures.
“But today, we are now in the era of wastefulness. We get billions of naira on a monthly basis and the little we can celebrate are motor parks, tarring of existing roads and payment of salaries of workers.
“I want to ask you, if you have workers who earn his/her pay, does he/she not have a right to his/her monthly payment? It is statutory.
“If anybody works for you, you cannot come and tell me that because you pay your staff salaries, then you are now a champion or that you have done something that is extraordinary.
“Because they have been giving him media hyping, that is why some people are saying he is doing a wonderful thing or that is now a magician. No no no, far from it.
“Some people created the Civil Service system that we are now running. Some people came in later to modify the operations of the civil servants and even the Civil Service itself.
“So, what new things has Governor Makinde brought into governance, except that he has created some agencies through which he siphons public funds?”
When asked if he can prove the allegation, the Oyo APC Publicity Secretary said nothing has happened since Governor Makinde raised a committee to combat the menace of land-grabbing in the state.
“There was a time he said he raised a committee to fight land-grabbing in the state. What have they achieved with that committee? Even the governor and his government are chief among those who are grabbing people’s land now.
“So, we have lost a vast resource to this administration. The land resource that was kept over the years by successive administrations in the state for the good of the people has been transferred into private hands,” he said.
The Oyo APC Publicity Secretary said the party will coast home to victory in 2027, assuring that the public funds accrual to the state will be put into use in the best interest of the people.
“We would try to think outside the box. We have all what it takes to reclaim the seat of governance in Oyo State. No other political party can boast of the calibre of people we have in our party,” he added.
When reminded that the same calibre of people were in the Oyo APC when the party lost to PDP in the 2019 and 2023 elections, Sadare retorted: “Ina esinsin kii jo’yan leemeji. O ti jo wa leemeji. We will not allow that for the third time.
“We lost power consecutively in 2019 and 2023. APC defeated itself in the last two elections; we lost to internal wranglings. We were divided against ourselves in 2019 and 2023. But such will not happen again in 2027. We have put machinery in place to ensure that we nip any crisis in the bud.
“We are now more united than ever. This was reflective of the recent open air meeting that we had. All the party chieftains danced together; we ate together.
“We have reached an understanding that, unlike what happened in the past, nobody will seek to leave the party in the event of not getting the ticket to contest for any of the elective offices, from the National Assembly, down to the governorship and the House of Assembly elections.”
