The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has sunk to a new low in its campaign tactics. By circulating a 2021 newspaper interview featuring our gubernatorial candidate, Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, the APC has not only exposed its intellectual bankruptcy but has also confirmed its fear of a man whose track record and vision dwarf their failed administration.
Let us set the records straight and dismantle this cheap smear campaign with logic and facts.
1. The Timeline Exposes the APC’s Desperation
The publication being circulated is from 2021. At that time, Hon. Adekanmbi was a member of the APC, serving as the immediate past Commissioner for Finance and Budget in Oyo State under the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s administration. As a loyal party member, he was responding to the perceived realities of the time as a member of the opposition.
However, the political landscape changed. On February 5, 2022, Hon. Adekanmbi made a principled decision to leave the APC, subsequently joining the PDP and now the APM. Why? Because he could no longer align himself with an administration that had abandoned the progressive ideals of the Ajimobi era. By digging up a five-year-old interview, the APC is trying to use a man’s past loyalty to a party he has since left as a weapon against him. This is the hallmark of a party that has run out of ideas.
2. The APC is Guilty of the Very Thing They Accuse Others Of
The headline of the 2021 article reads: “Makinde Is Deceiving Oyo People About Debt Reduction.”
The irony is not lost on the people of Oyo State. The current APC-led federal government has taken deception to an unprecedented level. Today, Nigeria is drowning in both domestic and foreign debt. The APC’s economic mismanagement has crippled local businesses, while they spend billions on propaganda to mask their failures. If anything, that 2021 publication proves he has always been a watchdog for the financial health of Oyo State, a quality the APC lacks entirely.
3. A Shift from Rhetoric to Action
The interview highlights Adekanmbi’s robust plans for youth empowerment, including the YES-O program he designed, his sponsorship of 100 students at the Technical University Ibadan, and his plans to expand internet access and agricultural value chains. These were not just talking points in 2021; they are part of his core manifesto as the APM gubernatorial candidate today.
The APC guber candidate clearly has no such legacy. By attacking Adekanmbi over an old article, they are asking the people to focus on a skewed picture of the past, while Adekanmbi is offering a blueprint for the future.
4. The Truth About the APC’s “Smear” Campaign
If the APC believes this 2021 interview is the silver bullet that will destroy Adekanmbi’s candidacy, they are deeply mistaken. The people of Oyo State are wiser now. They remember the APC’s empty promises. They know that a man who left their party on February 5, 2022, because of a crisis of conscience is a man of integrity.
The APC’s decision to release this old publication is not journalism; it is a panic-driven political attack. It shows they have nothing new to offer. They cannot run on their record, so they are trying to run on Adekanmbi’s history.
To the good people of Oyo State: do not be deceived by the APC’s recycled propaganda. Bimbo Adekanmbi is a man of vision, financial discipline, and genuine empathy for the youth and the aged. The APC is attacking him because they know that when he becomes Governor, the era of reckless borrowing, empty promises, and youth marginalization will come to an end.
The era of the APC is over. The era of a new, prosperous Oyo State under Bimbo Adekanmbi is here.
Oladayo Ogunbowale is S.A. Communications to Gov Seyi Makinde and a member of the Media committee of the Oyo State APM Presidential & Governorship Campaign council
