By Maroof Asudemade

Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju’s response to my article, “Electing Adekanmbi as Oyo Governor Will Spell Doom for Oyo LGs,” is a classic exercise in political damage control. Long on insults, short on answers, and remarkably evasive on the central issue, his article attempts to discredit the messenger because the message has exposed an uncomfortable question confronting the APM governorship candidate. What exactly does Bimbo Adekanmbi intend to do differently about local government administration in Oyo State?

Rather than provide a clear policy position, Olanrewaju has chosen to throw around words such as “puerile,” “fearmongering” and “intellectually lazy.” But political rhetoric, however aggressively deployed, cannot substitute for a convincing explanation of how a prospective governor intends to govern.

My article was not a prophecy of doom. It was a logical examination of Adekanmbi’s own declaration that he would continue Governor Seyi Makinde’s legacy, juxtaposed with his assertion during his Fresh FM interview that no state could grant local government autonomy. If both statements accurately reflect his position, the people of Oyo State are entitled to ask what that promised continuity means for their 33 local government areas. That is not fearmongering. It is public accountability.

Olanrewaju insists that I deliberately misrepresented Adekanmbi’s position. Very well. Let him tell the people what his principal meant. Does Adekanmbi support the financial independence of democratically elected local governments? Will he ensure that council funds are managed in accordance with the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment? Will local government chairmen have the freedom to implement lawful, budgeted projects without being subjected to discretionary approvals by the governor’s office?

A spokesman who claims that his principal has been misunderstood should have no difficulty answering them. Yet Olanrewaju spends paragraph after paragraph attacking my interpretation without offering a definite commitment on the practical operation of local government autonomy under an Adekanmbi administration. He tells us that autonomy is a constitutional matter and cannot be granted at the whim of a governor. That is correct but that is precisely where his argument becomes a convenient distraction.

Nobody suggested that a governor could amend the Constitution by executive fiat. The question is whether a governor will respect, implement and facilitate the autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution and reinforced by the Supreme Court. There is a world of difference between recognising autonomy as a legal principle and taking the administrative steps necessary to make it meaningful. The Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024 judgment on local government financial autonomy was not delivered to decorate legal textbooks. It addressed the constitutional status of local governments and challenged arrangements through which state governments exercised control over local government funds. Its significance lies in the practical independence of councils, not merely in abstract legal arguments.

Consequently, Adekanmbi’s observation that no state can grant autonomy does not, by itself, establish that he opposes autonomy. But neither does it absolve him of the responsibility to explain how he would implement the constitutional principle if elected governor. His spokesman cannot use the technical correctness of one sentence to evade the larger policy question raised by his candidate’s promise to continue Makinde’s legacy.

Indeed, Olanrewaju’s defence makes the need for clarification even more urgent. If Adekanmbi intends to respect local government autonomy, why not say so unequivocally? Why not assure council chairmen and residents that his administration will comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment and protect their constitutional powers? Why offer a general defence of constitutional procedure when a specific policy commitment is what the public needs?

The people are not asking for a lecture on constitutional theory. They want to know whether their local governments will be allowed to function without undue political interference.

Then comes Olanrewaju’s extraordinary question: in which APC-controlled state does local government autonomy currently exist? This is an argument from deflection, not a defence. If an APC-controlled state has failed to respect local government autonomy, that failure deserves criticism too. But the shortcomings of one political party cannot excuse the shortcomings of another. Constitutional obligations do not become optional because another governor has failed to fulfil them.

If Adekanmbi wishes to govern Oyo State, his responsibility is to explain what he will do, not to challenge his critics to produce a perfect example from another party. The question is not whether APC governors have performed better. The question is whether Adekanmbi will honour the constitutional rights of Oyo’s local governments. After all, Sarafadeen Alli, APC governorship candidate, has solemnly pledged to allow Oyo local government councils full autonomy. That is a direct promise without grammatical deflection. Oyo people already know where Alli stands on local government autonomy.

Besides, why should Oyo residents accept a system they consider unsatisfactory simply because they cannot identify a perfect alternative elsewhere? Is that the standard of governance being offered to the electorate in 2027? That because others may have failed, Oyo must continue to endure the same arrangement? Such reasoning is hardly the foundation of progressive leadership.

Olanrewaju also claims that local governments across Oyo State are functioning, delivering public services, executing projects and commissioning developments. Nobody needs to pretend that every council has ceased to exist for questions about financial autonomy to be legitimate. However, reality in many of the local government councils in Oyo disproves Olanrewaju’s claims. Many of them have become a shadow of themselves. A video has gone viral showing Saki East Local Government Secretariat in a most deplorable conditions. At Oriire Local Government in Ogbomoso, there is no presence of government in terms of amenities. Across all local government areas, dilapidated road infrastructure is ubiquitous.

Olanrewaju should therefore provide verifiable details of the projects he celebrates. Which councils initiated them? What were their funding sources? Were they financed directly from council allocations? Who approved the expenditure? What degree of discretion did the elected chairmen exercise? These are the questions that distinguish evidence-based political defence from campaign propaganda. A list of completed projects, even if accurate, would demonstrate activity; it would not automatically establish financial autonomy.

His attempt to portray my article as an attack on grassroots development is equally misplaced. My concern is precisely that grassroots development must not depend excessively on the goodwill of a governor. Communities need institutions with clear constitutional powers, predictable access to funds and the freedom to address local priorities. Development should be a function of accountable institutions, not a favour dispensed from the state capital.

And what exactly does Olanrewaju mean when he says Makinde has consistently demonstrated commitment to grassroots development? Is development synonymous with autonomy? Can a government build rural roads and still be criticised for its handling of local government finances? Can it upgrade healthcare facilities and still be challenged over the extent of control it exercises over council spending? Of course it can. One does not cancel out the other.

Governments must be judged on multiple fronts. Infrastructure, healthcare, education and security are important, but so are constitutional compliance, institutional independence, transparency and accountability. A government cannot invoke its achievements in one area as a permanent shield against scrutiny in another.

Olanrewaju further argues that continuity does not mean duplication. That is a reasonable proposition in principle. But it raises a question his article conspicuously fails to answer: which aspects of Makinde’s legacy does Adekanmbi intend to continue, which does he intend to reform, and what safeguards will he introduce to prevent the concentration of financial power at the state level? If continuity means retaining successful programmes while correcting weaknesses, then local government administration offers Adekanmbi an opportunity to demonstrate precisely that. He could distinguish himself by promising to strengthen council independence, improve financial transparency and ensure that local officials are accountable to their constituents and the law.

Instead, his spokesman appears more interested in defending the incumbent administration than in explaining the candidate’s independent policy vision.

That brings me to the political dimension of this controversy. Olanrewaju opens his article by claiming that Senator Sharafadeen Alli’s camp is rattled by Adekanmbi’s interview. He then treats criticism of the APM candidate as proof that the candidate is becoming a threat. This is convenient campaign arithmetic. If someone praises Adekanmbi, his popularity is growing; if someone criticises him, his opponents are afraid. Under that arrangement, no criticism can ever be legitimate, because every objection becomes evidence of political panic.

But criticism is not intimidation, and scrutiny is not proof of electoral strength. Adekanmbi’s popularity, like that of every other aspirant, must ultimately be established by credible evidence and the judgment of voters, not by the volume of responses his campaign generates.

Let us therefore return to the issue Olanrewaju has worked so hard to obscure. Adekanmbi has promised continuity with Makinde’s legacy. He has also made a statement about the inability of state governments to grant local government autonomy. Those two positions, taken together, demand clarification, particularly in light of the controversy surrounding local government financial independence in Oyo State.

I have not claimed that Adekanmbi has explicitly announced a policy to abolish local government autonomy. I have argued that his promise of continuity, combined with his public remarks, raises worrying concerns about what his administration would do. The burden is now on him to dispel those concerns with a clear, unambiguous and verifiable commitment.

Will Adekanmbi respect the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government financial autonomy? Will he ensure that council allocations are administered in accordance with the Constitution and applicable law? Will he protect elected local government chairmen from arbitrary financial control? Will he publish a policy framework explaining how his administration will strengthen grassroots governance? A direct answer to these questions would do more for his campaign than pages of denunciations directed at his critics.

Olanrewaju may dismiss my article as fearmongering, but the electorate is entitled to examine the implications of a candidate’s own words. The 2027 election is not a coronation, and a promise to continue an incumbent’s legacy is not a substitute for a detailed policy agenda. If Adekanmbi believes my concerns are unfounded, he should prove it through his own words and commitments. If he supports genuine local government autonomy, he should say so without qualification and explain how he intends to give it practical effect as Sarafadeen Alli has done.

Until then, the central question remains unanswered. The issue is not whether Adekanmbi can inherit Makinde’s political legacy. It is whether he intends to inherit the same approach to local government control, and whether Oyo’s 33 councils will be any freer to manage their affairs under his administration. That is the question Olanrewaju has failed to answer. Insults cannot answer it. Campaign slogans cannot answer it and comparisons with APC governors cannot answer it. Only Adekanmbi can, and Oyo people deserve that answer before they are asked to entrust him with the keys to Government House in 2027. And those are authority keys Bimbo is most likely not going to get by votes come 2027. Olanrewaju can bark and throw insults and tirades for all I care.