Barrister Yemi Aderibigbe, Director-General of the Campaign Council for Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State, has explained how documentary reviews, budgetary checks and stakeholder consultations shaped the candidate’s manifesto.
Aderibigbe said the document, titled My Pact, emerged from a three-stage process intended to connect Alli’s electoral commitments with official records, professional advice and the development needs of communities across the state.
According to him, the campaign council wanted a policy document grounded in evidence and practical considerations, rather than merely a collection of campaign promises.
“This thing must be made manifest and by evidence,” he said.
Explaining the first stage, Aderibigbe said he requested documents detailing the candidate’s proposed commitments when Alli invited him to participate in preparing the manifesto.
“When our candidate asked me to come on board for this manifesto, I asked him for every document of his promises and what he is going to do for the people,” he stated.
He said reviewing those documents enabled the council to examine the substance of the proposed agenda and establish a documentary foundation for interventions across different sectors.
“It is clear evidence that he is ready to serve the people by the official records,” Aderibigbe said.
The second stage, he explained, involved examining budgetary information and relevant official records to verify the proposals.
“The second stage is the national budgetary [records], where all these records will be verified,” he said.
The exercise, according to his explanation, was intended to place the commitments within the context of existing budgetary provisions, public-sector responsibilities and available government information.
Such an assessment provides a basis for examining the financial implications of proposed programmes, existing spending priorities and areas requiring additional investment.
For public scrutiny, however, the manifesto’s financing arrangements remain important: how the proposals would be funded, what resources implementation would require, and the respective roles of state revenue, federal allocations, private investment or other funding sources.
Aderibigbe identified professional consultations and engagement across Oyo State’s geopolitical zones as the third stage.
He said the council consulted commissioners and other relevant professionals to examine and validate the documents, drawing on their knowledge and experience to refine the proposed policies.
The consultations covered education, agriculture, markets, private-sector development and the wider economy, among other areas.
“Our aim is to make sure that every sector in Oyo State has a place in this document,” he said.
Engagement across the geopolitical zones was also intended to accommodate the different priorities of communities, rather than concentrate the manifesto on the concerns of a few locations.
Those priorities vary according to local economic activities, infrastructure needs, agricultural opportunities, educational challenges and access to public services.
While professional consultations can help assess technical feasibility, community engagement provides an opportunity to identify everyday problems that official records may not fully capture.
On education, the manifesto-development process offers scope to examine school infrastructure, teacher recruitment and development, classroom conditions, learning outcomes, technical and vocational training, and digital learning.
Other considerations include strengthening public primary and secondary schools, improving technical colleges and supporting research, innovation and employment-related skills in tertiary institutions.
The involvement of teachers, school administrators, parents, students and other education stakeholders would help connect those proposals with conditions in schools and communities.
Agriculture and economic development also featured in Aderibigbe’s explanation. Relevant priorities include farmers’ access to finance, modern equipment, storage, insurance, extension services and markets, alongside opportunities in livestock production and agro-processing.
For businesses, the policy questions include access to credit, infrastructure, investment attraction, entrepreneurship and job creation.
Aderibigbe said the candidate was prepared to refine proposals in these areas through verification and consultation.
He also identified local government autonomy as part of the proposed administration’s agenda.
“We will also recognise and ensure the seven pillars of autonomy of local government stand in Oyo State,” he declared.
The commitment has implications for the state’s 33 local government areas and their responsibilities in grassroots administration, primary healthcare, markets, sanitation, rural roads and community development.
However, Aderibigbe did not enumerate the seven pillars or explain their implementation in the remarks supplied.
Further details would therefore be needed on how the proposed administration intends to strengthen councils’ financial and administrative independence while ensuring transparency, accountability and effective service delivery.
The three-stage process outlined by Aderibigbe provides an account of how the campaign council says it assembled My Pact ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
For voters, the document offers an opportunity to assess Alli’s priorities against their communities’ needs. Its proposals will also invite scrutiny of funding sources, implementation timelines, responsible institutions and measurable targets.
Aderibigbe maintained that the council’s objective was to ensure that the different sectors and communities of Oyo State were represented in the candidate’s agenda.
