The youth wing of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has described recent comments by the Chairman of Ibadan North Local Government, Mr Seun Olufade, against the governorship candidate of the party, Senator Sharafadeen Alli as “a desperate political distraction from the glaring deficiencies in his own council administration.”
According to the youth leader of the party in the state, Glory Olalekan, he challenged Olufade to stop engaging in what it described as “lazy political criticism” and instead present the scorecard of his administration to the people of Ibadan North for scrutiny.
In a statement Saturday evening, Olalekan explained that “It is curious that a council chairman who should be preoccupied with delivering dividends of democracy to his people has suddenly become an expert in assessing the performance of a Senator whose constitutional responsibilities are fundamentally different from those of a local government chairman,” he said.
He said Olufade should understand that the primary responsibilities of a lawmaker include lawmaking, representation, oversight and appropriation, while senators also facilitate developmental interventions and constituency projects through relevant government agencies.
“Senator Alli’s record is not hidden. His interventions, constituency engagements and developmental initiatives are in the public domain and available for independent verification.
“Rather than writing political scripts against him, Olufade should take a tour of Ibadan North and Oyo South Senatorial District and ask the people what they have benefited from the Senator’s representation,” he said.
He challenged Olufade to explain the sustainability and quality of projects executed under his administration.
“Is this not the same chairman under whose administration the new 2km Bodija market road was reported to be undergoing repairs shortly after commissioning,” he said.
He described the attempt to compare a sitting Senator with a local government chairman on the basis of direct executive project delivery as “a demonstration of either political desperation or a fundamental misunderstanding of governance.”
He further accused Olufade of allowing partisan politics to overshadow independent thinking, urging him to remember that public office was an opportunity to serve constituents and build a credible political future, not merely to echo the position of political patrons.
“Like his political principals, Olufade appears more interested in attacking Senator Alli than explaining what his administration has achieved.
“But Nigerians, particularly the people of Ibadan North, deserve facts, figures and measurable achievements, not political propaganda,” he said.
He added that Senator Alli would not be distracted by what it called “politically sponsored noise,” insisting that his scorecard would continue to speak for him.
“Senator Alli has a record that can be fact-checked. Let Olufade publish his own scorecard and subject it to the same level of public scrutiny.
“Let him tell the people what he has delivered, how much was spent, the quality of the projects and what has become of them.Politics should not be reduced to attacking personalities.
“If Olufade believes Senator Alli has failed, he should identify specific legislative, oversight or constituency responsibilities that the Senator has neglected and provide evidence, Anything short of that is simply political grandstanding,” the organisation said.
He therefore urged the public to disregard what it described as “cheap political distractions.
He said that the 2027 contest would ultimately be decided by the people on the basis of records, competence, character and capacity to deliver, not by the volume of attacks issued against political opponents.
