Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has declared that the decision on who succeeds him as governor of Oyo State in 2027 will rest entirely with the people, not political godfathers or power brokers.
Speaking during the flag-off of the zonal stakeholders’ consultative forum on the 2026 budget in Ibadan on Thursday, Makinde emphasized that the era of leadership by entitlement or propaganda in Oyo was over.
> “Oyo State has gone beyond the era of politics based on entitlement or propaganda. Rather, the people of the state are now more politically enlightened and they will only support leaders who present credible plans and demonstrate capacity for development,” he said.
Makinde made it clear that only the votes of Oyo residents will determine the next governor, adding that his own political journey is proof that leadership is earned through accountability, not imposed by influence.
> “In 2018, when I was consulting to become governor, there was no yardstick to measure me. I had never been a councillor or a local government chairman, but I asked the people to trust me and judge me by my actions,” he recalled.
He advised political aspirants to focus on impactful policies and real solutions rather than chasing headlines or engaging in political drama.
> “Leadership must be about accountability, not entitlement,” Makinde stressed.
On the ongoing budget consultation, the governor said his administration will continue to engage residents in shaping the state’s fiscal policies, noting that the tradition of public input in budget planning began under his leadership in 2019.
He highlighted that separating the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning from the Ministry of Finance was one of his administration’s early moves to ensure better fiscal discipline and resource management.
> “Our approach has always been bottom-up. We engage, we listen, and we incorporate the aspirations of our people into the budget. That’s why we’ve recorded better budget performance and improved economic outcomes,” he said.
Makinde also spoke on infrastructure projects such as the Moniya-Iseyin, Iseyin-Ogbomoso, and Oyo-Iseyin roads, which he said have opened up rural areas and reversed the trend of rural-to-urban migration in the state.
He reiterated his government’s commitment to building institutions and infrastructure that make Oyo attractive for investment and ensure sustained development.
> “We will continue to serve the interests of the people by putting in place structures that ensure a secure and investment-ready environment,” he concluded.
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