The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan Yayi, on Monday unveiled his manifesto, calling for continuity in governance and development.
Yayi unveiled his Nine-Pillar agenda tagged “ITESIWAJU for Ogun State” during a meeting with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, in Abeokuta.
The Senator, who currently represents Ogun West Senatorial District, argued that Lagos State’s development since 1999 was largely driven by seamless transition from one administration to another, where successive governments built on the achievements of their predecessors.
He said Ogun could experience similar multiplier effects if viable projects are sustained rather than abandoned for new ones.
According to him, research on Lagos shows how successive administrations worked consistently on governance reforms, infrastructure, transportation, revenue generation and urban development.
“If Lagos could achieve what it has achieved through seamless transition of government from one administration to another, we can begin to imagine the multiplier effects that continuity can bring to the economy and development of Ogun,” Yayi said.
He assured that if elected, his administration would continue and complete viable infrastructure projects inherited from the current government, rather than abandoning them on political grounds.
He warned that policy discontinuity delays development, stressing that projects should be judged by their benefits to the people, not by who initiated them.
Yayi also called for issue-based campaigns ahead of the 2027 election, urging candidates to clearly outline their plans for youth development, women empowerment, industrialisation, agriculture, infrastructure, security, job creation and economic growth.
“People must be able to know what your plans are for the youth, the economy, women, industrialisation, infrastructure, contractors and agriculture. Where are you taking us to? People should judge us on those issues,” he said.
Unveiling the ITESIWAJU agenda, he explained that the slogan, “Itesiwaju Ipinle Ogun,” meaning progress of Ogun State, was crafted after extensive consultations across the state and took three years to develop.
He broke down the acronym as:
*I* – Infrastructure
*T* – Tourism and Culture
*E* – Economic Empowerment
*S* – Security and Welfare
*I* – Inclusive Growth and Well-being
*W* – Women, Youth and Poverty Eradication
*A* – Agriculture and Food Security
*J* – Job Creation and Industrialisation
*U* – Urbanization and Transparency
“This is not a document put together for the sake of putting a document together. It is not a document put together for the sake of grabbing power. I put this document together with all sense of purpose. A document that took me three years to put together. It is a document meticulously crafted to attend to every need of everyone in this state,” he said.
He maintained that Ogun has sufficient economic and human resources to become a model of development and urged other candidates to present their programmes to the electorate.
On the controversy surrounding his ancestral roots, Yayi dismissed it as political manoeuvring and desperation for power, saying he would not be distracted or blackmailed.
“My ancestral challenge is mere politics and desperation for power. I have a vision and believe in the development of this state, so I refuse to be bothered. I refuse to be blackmailed. Under my government, you must be eminently qualified to earn a position,” he stated.
Earlier, the Ogun State IPAC Chairman, Comrade Abayomi Sanyaolu, commended the APC candidate for his interventions across the three senatorial districts of the state.
Sanyaolu cautioned governorship candidates against heating up the polity with vulgar language and personal attacks, urging them to focus on issue-based campaigns and present their manifestos to the people.