ABEOKUTA – All Progressives Congress chieftain and former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kayode Oladele, has said opponents of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party, have no meaningful alternative to offer Ogun State ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Oladele said Yayi’s growing popularity across the three senatorial districts had unsettled the opposition, whose campaign, he alleged, focused on stopping the APC candidate rather than presenting a credible development programme.
“The truth is that Yayi’s opponents, particularly the PDP, have nothing to offer Ogun State. They are intimidated by his growing popularity and the unprecedented acceptance he enjoys across the three senatorial districts. Rather than present a credible alternative, they have made stopping Yayi the centrepiece of their politics.
“Beyond attacking Yayi and opposing virtually everything associated with his candidacy, what new vision have they presented to the people? Where is their development blueprint? Where is the record that persuades anyone that Ogun State will be better in their hands?” he asked.
He said the 2027 election should focus on competence, performance and the future of the state, citing Adeola’s public service record and development interventions across Ogun West, Ogun Central and Ogun East.
“The question before our people is straightforward: who has demonstrated the capacity to deliver? Who has touched lives? Who has facilitated projects that people can see and use? Who has invested in education, healthcare, roads, electricity, water, markets and economic empowerment? These are the issues that should define the election,” Oladele said.
The former lawmaker also alleged that some opposition elements planned to attack and discredit projects associated with Yayi after failing to diminish his growing acceptance.
“We are aware of their next line of attack. Having realised that they cannot successfully challenge Yayi on performance, they now want to attack his projects and discredit the good works that the people themselves can see and feel. That strategy will surely fail.
“You cannot convince a community that the road it travels on does not exist. You cannot tell students who have benefited from educational support that they received nothing. The evidence is there before the people,” he said.
Oladele urged the PDP to present its own record and programme instead of campaigning solely against Yayi.
“The PDP cannot build a campaign simply around stopping Yayi. Ogun State deserves more than that. If you want the people to entrust you with their future, tell them what you have done, what you intend to do and why your proposition is better. Politics cannot be reduced to resentment and opposition for opposition’s sake,” he said.
He added that Adeola’s candidacy represented both Ogun West’s longstanding aspiration to produce a governor and an opportunity to elect an experienced candidate with statewide reach.
“For once, equity, competence, experience and performance have converged. Ogun West has waited patiently. Ogun Central has produced governors and Ogun East has produced governors. Now that Ogun West has produced a candidate with statewide reach and demonstrable capacity, those working desperately to frustrate that opportunity must explain whose interest they are serving,” he said.
Challenging Yayi’s opponents to place their records before the electorate, Oladele said, “Yayi’s opponents are entitled to campaign against him, but they are not entitled to pretend that his record does not exist. Let them put their own record beside his. Let the PDP put its programme beside ours, and let the people decide.
“When you have before you a candidate with experience, statewide political reach, visible projects and a record of empowerment, yet your entire political strategy is to stop him and attack his achievements without presenting anything better, then it is legitimate to question whether you truly wish Ogun State well,” Oladele concluded.
