Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has promised to grant local government autonomy from his first day in office, make Oyo one of Nigeria’s top three state economies, and set up a N10 billion youth fund.
He unveiled his manifesto, ‘My Pact’, to stakeholders in Ibadan yesterday. It rests on seven pillars under the acronym Oyo AHEAD: local government autonomy, infrastructure, health reform, education and employment, agriculture and export, digital economy and security.
Alli targets N150 billion in internally generated revenue (IGR) without raising the burden on residents or businesses. He said the state raised under N100 billion last year, while neighbouring Ogun raised nearly three times that. About 3.8 million of its roughly eight million people live in poverty, he said.
Other promises included the completion of ongoing roads, with a 20-year warranty on new ones; setting up the state electricity regulator and supply power to industrial and farm corridors; restoring potable water in 100 communities and connect 100 rural communities to power; establishmeng of general hospitals in the remaining six local governments; more doctors and health workers; free insurance for infants, pregnant women and people aged 70 and above.
In education, Alli pledged to employ more teachers, provide facilities and ensure 30 pupils per class; skills centres in every zone and an apprenticeship law.
For economy and jobs, he promised industrial parks, revival of the Oluyole Free Trade Zone, a guarantee fund for small businesses, digital hubs in the five geopolitical zones, and insurance for 10,000 farmers. Ali also pledged a reorganised security architecture and prompt payment of salaries and entitlements for civil servants.