The Oyo State Government has rejected claims by the campaign organisation of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, linking the economic hardship in the country to Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration.
The governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, described the allegation as misleading, arguing that the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians were largely driven by national macroeconomic policies.
Olanrewaju, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the naira’s depreciation, removal of petrol subsidy, rising inflation and worsening purchasing power had affected citizens across the country, regardless of the state in which they lived.
He said the naira, which traded around N450 to N470 to the dollar at the official window in 2023, had since depreciated significantly following the unification of the foreign exchange market.
According to him, the currency depreciation had contributed to higher prices of food, medicine, transportation and production inputs.
The governor’s aide also attributed part of the economic pressure to the removal of petrol subsidy in 2023, saying the policy contributed to higher transportation and food costs and increased inflation.
He argued that these developments were national policy outcomes and could not reasonably be attributed to an individual state governor.
Olanrewaju also dismissed the Alli campaign’s reference to increased allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, saying higher nominal allocations to states should be considered alongside inflation and the reduced purchasing power of the naira.
He said increased revenue in naira terms did not necessarily translate into greater purchasing power for state governments.
On the issue of local government autonomy, Olanrewaju rejected the allegation that Makinde was opposed to the policy.
He argued that the question of local government financial autonomy involved constitutional and institutional issues, adding that the Federal Government had yet to fully implement the Supreme Court judgment on the matter.
He questioned why Makinde should be held responsible for what he described as the Federal Government’s failure to implement its own policy and legal position.
The statement followed accusations by the Alli campaign organisation that Makinde had undermined local government administration in Oyo State.
Olanrewaju maintained that Nigeria’s economic challenges required a broader assessment of national fiscal and monetary policies rather than attributing the hardship to state-level administration.
He said state governments, regardless of political affiliation, had limited capacity to reverse nationwide economic shocks through their own spending.
The statement was signed by Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, Special Adviser on Media to the Governor of Oyo State.
