Alli Unveils ₦10bn Youth Fund, Pledges LG Autonomy, ₦150bn IGR Target in Oyo
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2027 election in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has unveiled an ambitious development agenda, promising to grant local government autonomy from his first day in office if elected governor.
Alli also pledged to establish a ₦10 billion youth development fund, grow the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) to ₦150 billion annually without imposing additional financial burdens on residents and businesses, and position Oyo State among the three leading state economies in Nigeria.
He made the commitments on Tuesday while unveiling his manifesto, titled *My Pact*, to stakeholders drawn from community development associations, professional bodies, artisans, traders, political groups, labour organisations and other sectors of the state.
Presenting the document in Ibadan, Alli explained that his development agenda was anchored on seven strategic pillars under the acronym **OYO AHEAD**, covering local government autonomy, advancement of infrastructure, health reform, education and employment, agriculture and export, digital economy, and security.
According to him, the agenda is designed to transform the state’s economy, strengthen public service delivery and ensure that the benefits of governance are felt across all communities.
Highlighting the economic challenges confronting the state, the APC candidate described Oyo as a state with enormous agricultural, commercial and human potential that had yet to be fully harnessed.
He said: “Oyo State is the largest piece of land in southern Nigeria. We have 351 wards in 33 councils, and about eight million people. A state like ours should be feeding the South-West and selling to the world.
“Last year, this state raised less than ₦100 billion as IGR. Ogun, our neighbour, raised nearly three times that figure. Nearly half of our people, about 3.8 million, live in poverty, by the measure of our own national statistics office.
“Our people work hard every day. With the right support, they can do far better.
“So here is where we are going. We will make Oyo one of the top three state economies in Nigeria. Our first target on the way is ₦150 billion a year of our own revenue, and the market woman will pay no more than she pays today.”
He further envisioned a state where every ward would have a functional healthcare facility, a properly equipped school and accessible roads, stressing that investment in electricity and industrial development would stimulate employment, improve household incomes and expand the state’s revenue base.
On infrastructure, Alli promised to complete ongoing road projects and construct additional roads linking farming communities to markets to facilitate the movement of people and agricultural produce.
He also pledged that every newly constructed road under his administration would carry a 20-year warranty, while the state electricity regulator would be fully constituted to strengthen electricity generation and distribution, particularly in industrial and agricultural corridors.
Speaking on the power sector, he said: “On power, we will fully constitute the state electricity regulator, generate power here in Oyo, and send dedicated supply to our industrial and farm corridors.
“Faulty transformers will be audited and replaced every six months so that no street sits in darkness for a year.”
The APC candidate also promised to restore potable water supply to 100 communities and connect at least 100 rural communities to electricity for the first time.
He added that his administration would increase the number of state-owned buses and modernise the Pacesetter Transport Company to improve public transportation across the state.
On housing, Alli said his administration would collaborate with the Federal Government and private investors, both locally and internationally, to provide affordable homes for low- and middle-income earners.
He promised to simplify building approval processes, reduce associated costs and expand existing housing schemes to enable teachers, healthcare workers, young couples and other working families to own decent homes.
In the health sector, Alli pledged to establish general hospitals in the six local government areas yet to benefit from such facilities, while recruiting additional doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to address manpower shortages.
He expressed concern that some hospitals in the state reportedly operated without medical doctors, promising to ensure that vacancies in health facilities, including primary healthcare centres, were filled as they arose.
The governorship hopeful also promised free health insurance coverage for infants, pregnant women and senior citizens aged 70 and above.
He said his administration would target increasing the number of residents enrolled in the state’s health insurance scheme from the current 271,000 to 500,000 within its first two years.
On education, Alli proposed reducing the number of pupils in classrooms to a maximum of 30, recruiting additional teachers and expanding school infrastructure to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
He also promised to establish skills acquisition centres across the state’s zones and introduce an apprenticeship law to strengthen vocational training and equip young people with employable skills.
Addressing economic development, investment and employment generation, the APC candidate pledged to establish industrial parks, revive the Oluyole Free Trade Zone and introduce a business guarantee fund to improve access to credit for small and medium-scale enterprises.
A major component of his economic agenda, he said, would be the establishment of the Oyo Youth Fund, which would commence with an initial capital of ₦10 billion to support youth-led businesses, entrepreneurship and innovation.
He further promised to establish digital hubs across the state’s five geopolitical zones to expand access to technology, digital skills and emerging employment opportunities.
In agriculture, Alli promised to revive the state’s farm settlements, provide insurance coverage for 10,000 farmers and strengthen agricultural exports through the establishment of a produce board by the proposed Oyo Export Council.
He said the measures would help improve farmers’ productivity, guarantee better market access and position Oyo State as a major agricultural and export hub.
On security, Alli pledged to restructure and strengthen the state’s security architecture to ensure the protection of lives and property, while promising improved welfare for civil servants.
He assured workers that salaries and other entitlements would be paid as and when due, adding that government employees would be provided with appropriate working tools and a conducive working environment to enhance productivity.
The APC candidate maintained that the OYO AHEAD agenda represented his proposed social and economic contract with the people of Oyo State, expressing confidence that its implementation would promote inclusive development, create opportunities for residents and reposition the state for sustainable growth.
Editorial note: The story has been restructured into a publishable news report, with a stronger headline, improved transitions, clearer paragraphing and a more prominent presentation of the manifesto’s major promises. The candidate’s projections and claims have been attributed to him rather than presented as independently established facts.
I recommend verifying the reported ₦150 billion IGR target, the poverty statistics, the 271,000 health insurance enrolment fi
gure and the claim about hospitals without doctors before publication.