An aggrieved group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, the Oyo Progressive Mobilisation Group, has criticised the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, over a viral video in which he was heard repeatedly chanting “APM” during the launch of the Alao-Akala Transformation Movement in Ogbomoso.
The group described the incident as embarrassing and a reflection of what it called inadequate internalisation of the ideology and political ethos of the APC by the party’s governorship candidate.
In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Amoo Ibrahim and Opeyemi Olasunkanmi, respectively, the group questioned how the APC could effectively confront the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in the 2027 election if its own governorship candidate was publicly chanting the name of the rival party.
The group said the incident was particularly disturbing because the APM is associated with the political platform of the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, whom the APC is expected to challenge in the next governorship election.
“We are disturbed and seriously concerned to watch the gubernatorial candidate of our party, Oloye (Sen.) Sharafadeen Alli, repeatedly echo APM on a stage while addressing members of the movement being launched,” the statement said.
According to the group, the situation became more embarrassing when the candidate was reportedly alerted to the first pronouncement but still repeated the same chant.
It described the development as “disgraceful, un-progressive and a total gross misconduct” against the APC, arguing that it could not be easily defended by members of the party.
The group said the incident had also raised concerns among what it described as core progressive members of the APC in the state, particularly against the backdrop of longstanding debates over the political backgrounds of some of the party’s current leaders and candidates.
It further questioned the political history of Alli, alleging that he had spent most of his political career in parties it described as conservative and historically opposed to the progressive movement.
“Sen. Sharafadeen Alli has spent more than 90 per cent of his political years in conservative parties that have always been critical of the progressives in history, from SDP to UNCP, PDP, Labour Party, ZLP and Accord,” the group alleged.
It also extended its criticism to Alli’s running mate, Adesoji Adedeji, accusing him of leaving the APC in 2023 for Accord before subsequently contesting for the House of Representatives under the Labour Party.
The group said the alleged ideological disconnect among some party leaders required urgent attention, urging those around the governorship candidate to properly orientate him on the history, identity and political philosophy of the APC.
“We don’t know how the core progressive members will continue to experience these unwarranted insults at the hands of the imported conservatives masking as progressive-minded without cautioning them or putting them through proper orientation of what the progressive party, APC, is all about,” it said.
The group also expressed concern over what it described as the growing influence of “outsiders” within the party, insisting that APC members must protect the identity and values of the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
“At the Oyo Progressive Mobilisation Group, we are concerned about the future of our party in the hands of the present few privileged.
“And it is time for the progressive members to fight against the ‘ajeji’ messing with the sensitivity of the APC in the name of tokenisation,” the statement added.
The group concluded with a direct message to the governorship candidate: “We are APC, not APM. That should ring a bell in the ears and hearts of our gubernatorial candidate, not otherwise.”
It further urged Alli to clarify his political allegiance if he still identified with any of his former political platforms, rather than, according to the group, using the APC as a vehicle for political advancement before returning to another party.
The Oyo Progressive Mobilisation Group maintained that loyalty to the APC and a clear understanding of its political identity would be essential if the party hoped to mount a credible challenge in the 2027 governorship election.