The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State has blamed Governor Seyi Makinde for the rising cases of kidnapping, murder and violent attacks in the state.
The opposition party, in a statement issued on Friday by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, alleged that the worsening insecurity was a result of what it described as Makinde’s “lip service, unhealthy politicking and showmanship.”
The APC expressed concern over what it called an increasing wave of abductions and violent crimes in Oyo, noting that the situation contrasted sharply with developments in other South-West states.
The party accused the governor of shifting responsibility for insecurity to the Federal Government instead of taking decisive steps as the state’s Chief Security Officer.
The criticism followed the recent abduction of teachers and students during coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area of the state.
Reacting to the incident on Thursday, Makinde described the development as painful and urged the Federal Government to empower state Houses of Assembly to facilitate the establishment of state police.
Speaking during the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly primaries organised by the Allied Peoples Movement in Ibadan, the governor said the current centralised policing structure was inadequate to address growing security challenges.
“This is a very tough period for me as a person and also for our state,” Makinde said.
However, the APC dismissed the governor’s comments, insisting that his administration had failed to build an effective security architecture since assuming office in 2019.
“We have said on several occasions that window dressing and populism cannot help in building and sustaining security architecture,” the party stated.
The APC alleged that traditional rulers and other critical stakeholders had been sidelined from joint security operations in the state.
The party also criticised the state government over the purchase of surveillance aircraft reportedly worth nearly N8bn, claiming the equipment had not yielded visible results since July 2025 despite increasing attacks by bandits and criminal elements.
The opposition party further accused the government of empowering political thugs and mismanaging the South-West Security Network initiative.
According to the APC, personnel of the Oyo Amotekun Corps were poorly treated, underpaid and deployed for political interests instead of community security operations.
“No good salary, no welfare package, no insurance or retirement plans, while most of them are deployed to wrong places where they serve the interest of those in power and their friends only,” the statement added.
The party also accused Makinde of previously opposing the creation of state police.
It claimed that while 16 governors submitted memoranda on modalities for state police in March 2024 at the request of the Federal Government, Makinde failed to do so and allegedly described the initiative as a waste of time.
“Regrettably, Makinde now wants to shift the blame on the Presidency even though he has never been denied monthly security votes running into billions of naira,” the APC said.
The party called on the governor to intensify efforts toward rescuing all abducted victims and restoring security across the state.
Advertisement