Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement presidential candidate Seyi Makinde has said President Bola Tinubu should not receive a second term if the electricity promise he made before taking office has not been fulfilled.
Makinde spoke on Monday at the Boye Nation and JAF Movement Mega Concert at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex in Adamasingba, Ibadan.
The governor was responding to criticism from the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, over the use of diesel powered generators for some streetlights installed by the state government.
Makinde said the generators were being used because electricity from the national grid remained unreliable. He argued that a stable national power supply would have removed the need for states to spend money on diesel to keep public streets illuminated.
The governor referred to Tinubu’s 2022 campaign position that Nigerians should not vote for him again if the country’s electricity problem was not fixed within his first four years in office. Makinde said the promise should now be used to judge whether the president deserves another term.
The dispute began after Alli and his campaign organisation questioned the decision to use diesel generators for Oyo streetlights. They also raised concerns about the cost and sustainability of the arrangement.
Makinde rejected the criticism and said the wider national electricity crisis had to be considered when assessing the streetlight project.
The political argument took place at an event that also marked the formal movement of thousands of former APC members into the APM.
The defectors were led by Ajiboye Akande Sangogade, popularly known as Boye Nation, an ally and former aide of former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu.
The event was held under the theme Young United Unstoppable and formed part of the APM’s political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Makinde, who is the APM presidential candidate, also urged Alli to focus on the party’s Oyo governorship candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi, rather than his administration.
The event brought together APM leaders, political candidates, government officials, youths and supporters from across Oyo State.
