The Special Adviser on Media to the Oyo State Governor, Dr Suliaman Olanrewaju, has rejected allegations from the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who blamed Governor Seyi Makinde for the hardship residents are experiencing.
Olanrewaju described the position of the Alli Campaign Organisation as a misrepresentation of the causes of Nigeria’s current economic difficulties, arguing that the hardship was largely driven by national economic policies rather than decisions taken by individual state governments.
In a statement, Olanrewaju said the economic crisis had been worsened by the depreciation of the naira, the removal of the petrol subsidy, and rising inflation, which, according to him, had affected citizens across the country.
He said the naira, which traded at about ₦450–₦470 to the dollar at the official window in 2023, now fluctuates around ₦1,400–₦1,600 following the currency reforms.
According to him, the depreciation had contributed to increased costs of food, medicine, transportation and production inputs across the country.
Olanrewaju also linked the worsening economic situation to the removal of petrol subsidy in 2023, saying the policy contributed to higher transportation and food costs and intensified inflationary pressures.
He argued that the resulting economic difficulties could not reasonably be attributed to any individual state governor, adding, “Any attempt to localise or personalise these challenges is not only misleading but fundamentally dishonest.”
The governor’s aide also rejected criticism of increased allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), arguing that higher nominal allocations did not necessarily translate into increased purchasing power for state governments.
He said increased FAAC revenues could be influenced by factors including oil prices, changes in subsidy deductions and the exchange rate, noting that the depreciation of the naira had also reduced the real value of government revenues.
“A ₦10 billion allocation today cannot deliver the same value as ₦10 billion in 2022,” Olanrewaju said, adding that increased nominal revenue in an inflationary environment should not automatically be interpreted as economic prosperity.
He said this was what Governor Makinde referred to as a “Voodoo Economy”.
On poverty, Olanrewaju cited estimates attributed to the National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank to argue that the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty had increased amid the economic crisis.
He maintained that the trend represented a nationwide economic outcome rather than a development peculiar to Oyo State.
The governor’s aide further criticised the APC campaign organisation’s position on local government autonomy.
He argued that the issue was constitutional and remained subject to ongoing legal and institutional processes, while questioning why Governor Makinde should be blamed for alleged non-implementation of a Supreme Court judgment by the Federal Government.
Olanrewaju also challenged Senator Alli, a lawyer, over the constitutional provisions governing the State Joint Local Government Account Allocation Committee, arguing that the continued existence of the constitutional arrangement complicated claims of absolute local government financial autonomy.
He said the economic challenges confronting Nigerians required a proper understanding of the relationship between national economic policies and state-level governance.
“The truth is clear: Nigeria is experiencing one of its most difficult economic periods in decades,” Olanrewaju said.
He maintained that currency depreciation, inflation, subsidy removal and rising poverty had altered the economic circumstances of states across the federation and that state governments could not, through their spending alone, reverse nationwide macroeconomic shocks.
The statement was issued in response to criticism from the Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation, which had attributed aspects of the
