The Coalition of Opposition Parties in Support of YAYI for Governor 2027 has rejected claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu, that the state has endured 15 years of hardship, describing the assertion as inconsistent with the state’s development record.
In a statement issued on Monday by its Director-General, Arabambi Abayomi, the coalition said available economic and infrastructural indicators showed that Ogun State had recorded significant progress in recent years. Abayomi urged Adebutu to substantiate his claims with specific evidence rather than rely on broad political rhetoric.
Adebutu had reportedly told supporters at the Ake Palace Pavilion in Abeokuta that Ogun had suffered 15 years of hardship, a position the Yayi coalition described as an attempt to present the state as having experienced uninterrupted decline.
Abayomi argued that the state’s economic performance contradicted such a narrative, pointing to an increase in the state’s Gross Domestic Product and internally generated revenue under the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
According to him, Ogun’s GDP, which stood at about N2.9 trillion in 2019, had risen substantially in subsequent years, while IGR also increased from N50.6 billion in 2020 to nearly N192 billion in 2024.
He said the figures might be subjected to different interpretations, but insisted that they did not support the claim of 15 years of unbroken hardship.
“Adebutu’s ‘fifteen years of hardship’ is a terrible manifestation of amnesia or acute dementia,” Abayomi said, describing the claim as politically motivated.
He also defended the Abiodun administration’s record on pension payments, citing the payment of gratuities and pension liabilities inherited from previous administrations.
The coalition further cited infrastructure projects across the state, including the Gateway International Airport, road projects, healthcare facilities and power infrastructure, as evidence of what it described as tangible development.
Abayomi said the Gateway International Airport, located in the Iperu-Remo area, together with the rehabilitation and construction of roads across the state, represented part of the administration’s efforts to improve Ogun’s economic and transportation infrastructure.
He also pointed to the Muhammadu Buhari Estate, the 200-bed Gateway Medical Centre, the 34.1MW Onijanganjangan Independent Power Project and completed primary healthcare centres as examples of projects he said should form part of the assessment of the administration.
The Yayi coalition also praised Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola for what it described as his interventions across Ogun’s three senatorial districts, citing the construction and furnishing of a 12-classroom block at Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, among other projects.
“If someone wakes up today to tell you that Ogun State is retrogressing, such person must be subjected to a psychiatric evaluation for his state of mental evaluation,” Abayomi said.
He challenged Adebutu to go beyond criticism of the present administration and explain how he intended to improve the state’s economy if elected governor in 2027.
According to him, “If Adebutu wants to be governor, he should tell us what he will do differently. He should tell us how he will improve Ogun economy in practice, not just in rhetoric.”
Abayomi also urged political actors and journalists to interrogate campaign claims ahead of the 2027 election, arguing that voters deserved facts rather than political propaganda.
He said the coalition remained committed to its campaign for the emergence of Adeola as governor, declaring that Ogun State would be “Yayified” by May 29, 2027.
