The Director-General of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) Campaign Council in Ibadan North-East Local Government and Executive Chairman of the council area, Hon. Engr. Ibrahim Akintayo, popularly known as OMUYES, has declared that youths will play a decisive role in determining the outcome of the 2027 general elections.
Akintayo made this declaration in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, October 15, 2026, insisting that young people, as a significant voting bloc and a group deeply affected by the country’s economic realities, would no longer be swayed by political propaganda or recycled promises.
“This is an election that the youths will decide in a major way. They are the largest part of our voters and the most affected by the economic realities of this country. They will not be swayed by noise or recycled promises. Old gimmicks are for the gullible,” he said.
Reacting to reports of the defection of members of Team Arapaja and the Bayo Adelabu Foundation to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the council chairman dismissed suggestions that the development represented a major political earthquake in Ibadan North-East.
According to him, those involved were already members of the APC who had merely changed their political allegiance, rather than defected from another political party.
Akintayo challenged Ambassador Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja to publicly identify the people he claimed to have brought under his political influence, demanding evidence of their membership, ward affiliations and grassroots structures.
“Let Arapaja show us the people he claims to have brought under his control. Who are they? Where are their structures? What wards do they represent? Let the people see their faces and judge for themselves,” he challenged.
The APM chieftain also criticised Arapaja’s political history, accusing him of repeatedly moving between political parties and questioning his authority to lecture others on loyalty and political direction.
He maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) provided Arapaja with the political platform through which he became a member of the House of Representatives, Deputy Governor of Oyo State and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Jordan.
Akintayo further claimed that Arapaja subsequently moved from the PDP to the APC and later to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
“A man like that cannot lecture our youths on loyalty or political direction,” he said.
Recalling the 2019 governorship election in Oyo State, Akintayo stated that Arapaja was in the ADC when Governor Seyi Makinde emerged victorious on the PDP platform.
He argued that Makinde later demonstrated political magnanimity by helping Arapaja regain political relevance despite their differing political affiliations at the time.
“The governor could have left him in the cold, but he showed him mercy. That is the kind of leader Makinde is. Yet today, Arapaja is the one making noise about political control,” he said.
The Ibadan North-East chairman also challenged the former ambassador to identify residents of the local government who benefited directly from his years in the House of Representatives, his tenure as deputy governor and his diplomatic assignment.
“We want names, not political noise,” Akintayo added.
On the broader political contest ahead of 2027, Akintayo described the election as a choice between Nigerians struggling with the economic hardship under the APC-led Federal Government and beneficiaries of people-oriented programmes implemented by the Oyo State Government under Governor Makinde and his administration in Ibadan North-East.
He argued that young people and other voters would assess political parties and candidates based on their experiences, economic circumstances and the tangible benefits they had received from government policies.
“The young people know who has made life harder and who has put something in their hands. Politicians of the old order like Ambassador Arapaja should go and chill, and allow a new generation to take charge,” he said.
Looking ahead to the 2027 polls, Akintayo expressed confidence that the people of Oyo State would vote massively for Hon. Bimbo Adekanmbi, the APM’s governorship candidate, citing their desire for continuity in governance and the consolidation of developmental gains recorded under the present administration.
“The people of Oyo State have seen the dividends of good governance and they want it to continue,” he said.
He reaffirmed the APM’s commitment to sustained grassroots mobilisation across the state, stressing that youths would remain central to the party’s engagement strategy as it prepares for the 2027 general elections.
Signed:
Hon. Ibrahim Akintayo (OMUYES)
Executive Chairman, Ibadan North-East Local Government
Director-General, Ibadan North-East APM Campaign Council.
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