Osun Won’t Go Back To Old Economic Order – Adeleke Rubbishes APC Candidate, Oyebamiji’s Blueprint

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has strongly criticised the recently unveiled economic blueprint of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Muniru Bola Oyebamiji, describing it as outdated, capital flight-oriented and disconnected from current socio-economic realities in the state.

In a statement issued on Sunday, January 25, in Osogbo, the governor said a careful review of Oyebamiji’s proposals showed what he termed “old school thinking” that contradicted the progressive ideals the APC candidate claims to uphold.

According to Adeleke, the plan is a deliberate attempt to reverse what he described as the ongoing economic gains being enjoyed by residents of the state.

Naijaonpoint reports that the governor accused Oyebamiji of seeking to return Osun to what he called an era of capital flight to Lagos and a suppressive tax regime that would deepen poverty.

“Mr Oyebamiji, by his own admission, seeks to return Osun to the old era of capital flight to Lagos and suppressive tax regime to reimpose extreme poverty on Osun people,” Adeleke said.

Contrasting the APC candidate’s proposal with his administration’s policies, Adeleke said his economic blueprint was anchored on local content, grassroots empowerment and inclusive growth.

He listed key pillars of his administration’s plan to include citizens’ empowerment, artisans’ and cooperatives’ financial inclusion, infrastructure development to fast-track growth, expansion of the tax base with reduced rates, and reforms to ease the business environment and attract investment.

Other components, according to him, include agro-industrialisation through the revival of economic and free trade zones, as well as mining sector reforms aimed at diversifying the state economy.

“The current plan is people-based in conception and people-focused in implementation,” the statement read.

The governor said his administration had already empowered the grassroots economy through artisan and cooperative financing running into almost ₦4 billion.

He added that local businesses had been strengthened through strict enforcement of local content policies in procurement and workforce management, while the Osun Digital Economy Hub had been reinvigorated to tap into the global multi-billion-dollar digital industry.

Adeleke further noted that the state had increased internally generated revenue through tax harmonisation and digitisation, revived industrialisation through the reactivation of Osun free trade zones, reduced the state’s debt stock through sustainable debt management, and relaunched agro-mechanisation and cocoa production initiatives.

The governor described Oyebamiji’s blueprint as “imbecilic and deficient in depth and orientation,” alleging that it merely recycled policies already being implemented by the current administration.

He accused the APC candidate of copying existing reforms in areas such as taxation, industrialisation, revenue digitisation, public-private partnerships and agro-industrial development.

“The AMBO plan is a recipe for economic retrogression and disempowerment of the local economy through abandonment of vital local content policy,” Adeleke said.

Adeleke also dismissed claims in Oyebamiji’s plan regarding power and digital economy, saying his administration had already taken concrete steps in those areas.

He disclosed that his government had signed the Osun State Electricity Bill into law to regulate power generation, transmission and distribution, with implementation already underway.

On the digital economy, the governor said Osun had been positioned as a digital hub through several ICT and digital economy laws currently being implemented to tap into the global technology market.

The governor said it was “shocking and insulting” for Oyebamiji to propose tying Osun’s economy to Lagos through what he described as an outdated capital flight arrangement.

While acknowledging ongoing South-West collaboration under the Oodua framework, Adeleke warned that the proposed Lagos corridor would undermine Osun’s local content policy and derail efforts to build a sustainable agro-industrial and digital economy.

“The idea of Lagos corridor from Mr Oyebamiji is a direct intention to kill Osun local content policy and destroy the drive to grow Osun economy on a sustainable platform,” the statement concluded.