2027: Gbolarumi vows to improve on Makinde’s record

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Oyo State, Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi, has declared that the party remains strong and will not be absorbed into another political party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Gbolarumi, a former Deputy Governor of the state, also said he would perform better than Governor Seyi Makinde if elected governor, while criticising the present administration over youth unemployment and what he described as inadequate economic empowerment.

He spoke on Sunday at a media parley in Ibadan, where he addressed journalists on the state of the PDP, the performance of the present administration and his plans for the state ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

On the future of the PDP amid political realignments in the state, Gbolarumi said the party had structures across Oyo State and was engaging its stakeholders ahead of the election.

“We cannot collapse PDP into another party. They can only come to join us.

“PDP is not dead. We have a lot of structure and we have been talking with stakeholders,” he said.

The PDP candidate also dismissed insinuations that he had abandoned the party, saying, “I have never defected.”

He described himself as a grassroots politician and said his campaign would be anchored on reaching the people at the grassroots and engaging stakeholders across the state.

“I am a grassroots politician,” he said.

The PDP candidate criticised the Makinde administration over what he described as inadequate efforts to tackle unemployment and empower young people.

According to him, many graduates remain without jobs, while youths with skills lack adequate opportunities to deploy them productively.

“Seyi has done nothing about economic empowerment, which is one of our five-point agenda. Many youths are jobless, they have graduated, what are we doing about that? Our youths need to be empowered. Some of them have skills,” he said.

Gbolarumi said his proposed administration would prioritise education, infrastructure, healthcare, justice, equity and sustainable economic development.

He said government interventions should be geared towards creating sustainable opportunities rather than temporary measures.

The PDP candidate also criticised the practice of distributing money and food items during election campaigns, saying such gestures should not be presented as youth empowerment or development.

“It’s not about giving people money while campaigning. Why are you sharing money? You don’t need that. People are very wise now, they will collect your money and will not vote for you,” he said.

He urged political parties and candidates to make their campaigns issue-based and explain how they intended to tackle unemployment, infrastructure deficits, education and other challenges confronting the state.

Assessing the performance of the Makinde administration, Gbolarumi said the governor had done “very little”, while acknowledging that no administration could accomplish everything.

“He has done very little. He cannot do everything. As regards rating the administration, I allow the masses to rate,” he said.

He said a government led by him would not discard every project or policy inherited from the present administration, adding that some of the achievements could be built upon.

“He has done a little. We will make use of some of it,” Gbolarumi said.

He promised to place greater emphasis on youth empowerment and the creation of sustainable economic opportunities if elected.

On the internal affairs of the PDP, Gbolarumi said there was no longer any faction within the party in Oyo State.

“There is no faction in the party anymore. There is nothing like Wike faction or Makinde faction. It is one PDP now,” he said.

He also disagreed with the notion that becoming governor automatically made an individual the leader of the party, stressing the importance of respecting the party’s leadership and structure.

“I don’t believe being the governor automatically makes you the leader of the party. We need to respect the party leaders and structure,” he said.

Gbolarumi said his campaign would not be driven by personal attacks or political exchanges, but by issues affecting the people.

“We don’t believe in politics of banter,” he said.

He said voters deserved to hear practical proposals from candidates on how they intended to improve their living conditions and address challenges confronting the state.

On campaign financing, Gbolarumi acknowledged the importance of financial resources in political campaigns but said money would not be the basis of his engagement with the electorate.

“Financial power, money is not everything,” he said.

He said his campaign would spend money on mobilisation and other legitimate campaign activities rather than indiscriminately distributing cash to voters.

“We will not come out to share money to anybody. We will spend money for several necessary things. We will do our best for the people of Oyo State to know that we are the best,” he said.

Gbolarumi said the PDP would rely on its structures, programmes and grassroots mobilisation as it prepares for the 2027 election.

The former deputy governor expressed confidence in his capacity to govern the state, saying he could perform better than the incumbent governor.

“I can do better than Makinde,” he declared.

Gbolarumi emerged as the PDP governorship candidate following the party’s May 2026 primary election.

Those present at the media parley included the PDP state chairman, Prof. Rahman Akinoso; Organising Secretary, Olaniyi Stephen; Auditor of the State Working Committee, Hon. Ajagbe Oladotun; Ibadan South-East II representative, Taiwo Jimoh, popularly known as Solution; Chairman of the Chairmen Forum, Hon. Abiola Jimoh; and Head of Media and Strategic Communications, Chesterfield Efe.