An Abuja based media expert, Taiwo Ajayi, has dismissed claims by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Dapo Lam-Adesina, that the party would defeat Governor Seyi Makinde’s preferred candidate in 2027.
Ajayi, reacting to Lam-Adesina’s recent interview published in a national daily, described the comments as “political grandstanding disconnected from the mood of the people,” insisting that no amount of what he termed “APC caricature” would sway Oyo voters in the face of prevailing economic hardship across the country.
Lam-Adesina, a former member of the House of Representatives and son of former Oyo governor Lam Adesina, had expressed confidence that the APC would reclaim the state in 2027 and defeat any candidate backed by Makinde.
He also threw his weight behind the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, citing ongoing economic reforms.
But Ajayi faulted the optimism, arguing that the reality on the ground tells a different story.
In his words: “Elections are not won by press interviews or chest-thumping,” he said in a statement forwarded to westernmirror.com.ng on Sunday.
“They are won by credibility, by performance, and by the lived experiences of the people. Today, Nigerians are grappling with severe economic pressure. Oyo people are not insulated from that reality.
“Going by what has been happening across APC controlled state especially in our own South West region, how does the APC even assume let alone think that voters have no right sense of judgement of their own except what the politicians say to them”?
“Where do people change a performing governor on account of political jamboree or false propaganda by opposition elements, or which APC controlled states can anybody compared to Oyo state in terms of development and improved quality of life as we speak”?
“So, when I hear or read people brag because of their affinity with the ruling party at the center not because of their antecedents in the state, it baffles one to think if politics has become a free for all business or about service to the people.”
He maintained that attempts to project the APC as a united and formidable alternative in Oyo State would struggle against what he described as “deep public frustration” with the national economic hardship that has gone viral unabated.”
According to him, while political actors may trade rhetoric, voters are becoming wiser, self aware, and more concerned about food prices, purchasing power and job opportunities.
“You cannot gloss over national hardship and expect state-level political marketing to erase it. The electorate is more discerning than many politicians assume. They compare notes. They look at their wallets. They measure promises against outcomes,” Ajayi noted.
The Komu, Otesiwaju LG born media expert also pushed back against suggestions that Makinde’s influence would wane in 2027, insisting that the governor’s political structure remains solid with an army of electorate who have experienced what good governance is all about under under both PDP and APC.
“Governor Makinde has built a broad coalition across party lines and social groups in Oyo State. Barring any unforeseen political earthquake, he will successfully install a successor, ” Ajayi insisted.
He added, “Governance continuity is assured when anchored on visible projects and institutional reforms that often benefit the voters directly rather than few political actors.”
He added that the governor’s record in infrastructure, education and public sector reforms particularly on laying solid foundation for institutional transformation and growth, would form the backbone of any succession plan.
While acknowledging that opposition politics is legitimate in a democracy, Ajayi urged political actors to engage more with policy alternatives rather than what he termed “media theatrics.”
“The APC is entitled to seek power in Oyo. That is democracy but reducing complex socio-economic realities to optimistic soundbites does not change the daily struggles of citizens,” Ajayi cautioned.
He however, maintained that 2027 would ultimately be decided “not by party slogans but by the collective judgment of Oyo voters who have seen what APC government did to them in eight years and what is currently happening in the country today.”
“At the end of the day, the people will decide and their decision will reflect both their assessment of national conditions and their evaluation of leadership at the state level.”