Adekanmbi Fires Back at Alli, Says Political Experience Is No Substitute for Vision
…As APM Candidate Challenges APC Flagbearer to Present Original Ideas, Accuses Him of Recycling Makinde’s Policies.
APM Guber Candidate Accuses APC of Recycling Makinde’s Policies, Challenges Alli to Present Original Ideas Beyond Political Credentials
The Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, has taken another swipe at Senator Sharafadeen Alli, declaring that political experience and years in public office do not automatically translate into visionary leadership or transformative governance.
Adekanmbi, in a statement responding to the latest remarks by the Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation (SSACO), challenged the APC governorship candidate to demonstrate the originality and superiority of his Oyo AHEAD manifesto rather than relying on his political résumé and previous positions in government.
He argued that occupying public offices as a Local Government Chairman, Secretary to the State Government and Senator was not, in itself, evidence of outstanding performance, insisting that public office should be measured by tangible achievements and the positive impact of policies on the lives of the people.
The APM candidate questioned why a politician with several years of governance experience would struggle to present what he described as bold, original and transformative ideas capable of taking Oyo State beyond its current developmental trajectory.
According to him, the promises contained in the Oyo AHEAD manifesto, including improved roads, education, healthcare facilities, teachers’ welfare and social programmes, were conventional campaign promises rather than groundbreaking policies capable of distinguishing the APC’s proposed administration from the existing government.
Adekanmbi further accused SSACO of contradicting itself by condemning the healthcare policies of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration while proposing the establishment of Primary Healthcare Centres across the wards, a policy direction he claimed was already being pursued by the present government.
He said the APC campaign organisation could not consistently describe the Makinde administration as a failure while presenting a manifesto that allegedly reflects several of the same policy priorities and developmental approaches.
Adekanmbi also challenged the campaign organisation to explain why Oyo residents should abandon the present administration for an alternative that, in his assessment, offers little policy distinction from what is already being implemented.
He cited Oyo State’s recognition in the liveability ranking by Phillips Consulting and its rating in the 2025 Democracy Performance Index released by Kimpact Development Initiative and published by StatiSense as indications of progress that any incoming administration should seek to consolidate.
The APM governorship candidate maintained that the debate should not centre on the number of political offices Senator Alli had occupied but on whether the APC had offered a genuinely superior alternative capable of addressing the needs and aspirations of Oyo residents.
He stressed that political credentials were not synonymous with vision, just as statistics and campaign promises could not replace a clearly defined strategy for sustainable development.
Adekanmbi, therefore, maintained that the people of Oyo State deserved more than what he described as recycled promises packaged as political change, insisting that his candidacy represented a more credible option for sustaining progress, strengthening good governance and building on the state’s existing achievements.
