It is often said that when a government begins to sense its fast-approaching expiry date, its spin doctors degenerate from logical argumentation into wild, frenzied sensationalism, especially when that government is desperate to install a malleable successor.
This structural decay was on full display during a recent media briefing where Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, treated journalists to a masterclass in political fiction.
In a desperate bid to manufacture relevance for his principal’s newly adopted political project, Oga Olanrewaju launched, as usual, a tissue of lies against Senator Sharafadeen Alli, the Oyo All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
Oga Olanrewaju’s primary grievance, or rather, the script handed down to him, is the completely fabricated claim that Senator Alli lacks a blueprint and is “avoiding national television”. To any politically conscious resident of Oyo State, this assertion does not just stretch the truth; it snaps it completely.
Let us confront the facts that Oga Olanrewaju so conveniently sought to bury. To claim that a lawmaker of Senator Alli’s calibre is hiding from public scrutiny is a laughable insult to the collective intelligence of the state.
Has Oga Olanrewaju forgotten so quickly that Senator Alli was the very first governorship candidate to appear before the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Chapter? In that intense, unscripted environment, the Senator engaged media practitioners in a rigorous, one-on-one interactive session, putting his comprehensive roadmap for the state on display.
Furthermore, Senator Alli submitted himself to the public at the town hall interaction tagged “A Dialogue on the Future of Oyo,” an event conceptualised by the Oyo Rising Citizens Forum (ORCF). On that platform, he did not merely present a static policy document; he stayed to endure gruelling cross-examination from citizens, market women, artisans, and professionals from all sectors.
This is a man who has appeared on national television and major networks like Channels Television and others long before Oga Olanrewaju’s sudden fascination with studio appearances.
But why is the Governor’s spokesman suddenly obsessed with television ratings?
The answer lies in the unmarketable product he is currently trying to force upon unwilling buyers in Oyo State: Mr Bimbo Adekanmbi.
It is profoundly embarrassing that a state as intellectually sophisticated as Oyo is being told by a government official that an appearance on ARISE TV or a local Ibadan radio station is the ultimate yardstick for the governorship.
Oga Olanrewaju seeks to laud Adekanmbi’s recent media rounds as a sign of brilliance, yet anyone who tuned in saw exactly what it was, a focusless, empty display devoid of any concrete economic blueprint, masquerading behind false accusations.
Adekanmbi is increasingly cutting the figure of a malleable puppet, being pushed forward by Governor Seyi Makinde to ensure the continuity of the current administration’s anti-people policies.
These harsh policies have achieved nothing but the impoverishment of ordinary citizens while enriching a select few. We are well aware of the numerous chosen individuals who have received multi-million Naira SUVs and other goodies from this administration, the very government that Oga Olanrewaju attempts to project as a public favourite. Yet, despite this blatant governance failure, he remarkably scores it as a distinction.
The tragic irony of Oga Olanrewaju’s diatribe is his sudden advocacy for “the children of nobody.”
He boasts about the digitalisation of civil service recruitment under Makinde, while completely ignoring the reality on the ground: the destruction of local government administration.
Despite the Supreme Court judgement ostensibly liberating local administration, the 33 local governments of Oyo State have yet to break free from Governor Makinde’s stifling grip. Historically, his administration systematically withheld vital statutory allocations, a strategy that crippled grass-roots infrastructure and directly undermined the ordinary citizens fighting for survival at the lowest rungs of society.
Oga Olanrewaju should be informed that Senator Alli’s manifesto directly confronts this systemic oppression. His policy advocates absolute financial autonomy for local councils, caps public school classrooms at 30 pupils, mandates a reasonable allocation of the state budget to education, and guarantees the comprehensive revitalization of all other sectors.
These are concrete, verifiable metrics, not the vague and cosmetic transformations being circulated by the state government.
It is easy to see why the Makinde camp is terrified.
The false propaganda they intended to build their 2027 campaign upon is crumbling. The circular road property demolitions and the high-handed treatment of Oyo citizens have exposed the administration’s underbelly. No amount of dance routines or stage-managed eulogies can mask the growing discontent.
Oga Olanrewaju claims that it is impossible to build a house on lies because the truth will eventually catch up and shatter it. On this single point, I agree with him.
The truth is already catching up with the current administration and its strategic APM allies. Oyo State has indeed moved past the era of grandstanding.
The electorate can tell the difference between a tested leader who faces his constituents in local town halls and a puppet engineered to prolong an unpopular status quo. Come 2027, the voters will provide a definitive response to Oga Olanrewaju’s fairy tales.