Oyo Govt Accuses FG of Politicising Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road Flag-off, Excluding Makinde

The Oyo State Government has accused the Federal Government of deliberately excluding Governor Seyi Makinde from the flag-off ceremony for the reconstruction and dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road, describing the move as politically motivated and an attempt to turn a major infrastructure project into a political event.

The ceremony was held on Monday at Idi Ayunre in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, with President Bola Tinubu represented by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun. Also in attendance were the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State, Sarafadeen Alli; and the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja. Governor Makinde, however, was conspicuously absent.

In a statement, the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said the decision to exclude Makinde was difficult to separate from the emerging political contest ahead of the 2027 general elections. He said the road project was too important to the state and the wider South-West region to be reduced to a political event. Oyelade particularly rejected the explanation that Makinde was not invited because he was on leave, arguing that the state had a functional Acting Governor who could have represented the state at the event.

The commissioner described the development as a “political jamboree” and said the Makinde administration would not be distracted by it. “The course of 2027 is set, and no level of indecorum or desperation from whatever quarters will hold back the will of the people,” Oyelade said.

The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, tendered an apology over Makinde’s exclusion from the programme. According to Umahi, the Federal Controller in Oyo State who was tasked with delivering a letter of invitation to the governor said Makinde had travelled. “Let me apologise to the governor of Oyo State because we gave a letter to our controller in Oyo State, who told me that the governor travelled,” Umahi said. “And I said you should have given it to the deputy governor, who would have come to represent the governor, because this is a national programme.”

Governor Makinde, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party serving his second term, is running for president in the 2027 election through an alliance between the PDP and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). He has been officially affirmed as the presidential candidate of the APM and has vowed to unseat President Tinubu in the 2027 election.

The Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road is a major inter-state route linking Oyo and Ogun states and providing an important connection across the South-West corridor. The planned reconstruction and dualisation, valued at N296 billion, is expected to improve movement along the corridor. The controversy, however, has shifted attention from the infrastructure project to the growing political rivalry ahead of 2027.

About The Author

West Africa Weekly

author

See author's posts