The latest dispute centres on two highly visible projects in Ibadan and across the state: the streetlight infrastructure and the renovation of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex in Adamasingba.
Alli’s campaign organisation has questioned the sustainability and cost of powering the streetlights with diesel generators, while also raising concerns about the ability of the renovated stadium to meet international football requirements.
The Oyo State Government, however, has rejected the criticism and defended both projects, arguing that the streetlights were necessary because of unreliable electricity from the national grid and that further improvements were still being made to the stadium.
How the latest dispute started
The latest exchange followed comments by Governor Makinde concerning Senator Alli’s professional background.
In response, the Alli campaign organisation, through its Director of Media and Publicity, Bisi Oladele, shifted the argument to the governor’s record as an engineer and the execution of infrastructure projects under his administration.
The APC campaign accused the government of spending heavily on streetlight infrastructure while relying on fuel-powered generators to keep some of the installations operating.
The campaign also criticised the expenditure on the Lekan Salami Stadium, arguing that the facility’s performance in securing approval for continental football had raised questions about the value of the renovation.
However, the spending figures contained in the political claims have not been independently established in the reports reviewed for this story. The Alli campaign has been reported as alleging more than ₦250 billion was spent on diesel-powered streetlights, while another passage in its statement referred to approximately ₦400 billion in state funds. Those figures should therefore be regarded as political claims pending documentary verification.
Government explains why generators are being used
The Makinde administration responded through the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju.
The government said the use of generators was not the original objective of the streetlight programme but a response to unreliable electricity supply from the national grid.
According to the administration, leaving major roads and public spaces without illumination was not considered an option, particularly where street lighting also serves security and public-safety purposes.
The government also pointed to an alternative-energy programme, saying Oyo State had built a 5MW solar plant that was being upgraded to 12MW.
The administration consequently turned the criticism into a wider argument about the country’s electricity supply, noting that Senator Alli belongs to the APC, the party controlling the Federal Government.
The government said the national power situation was a major reason it had resorted to alternative arrangements for the streetlights.
Stadium dispute has a separate, verifiable history
The argument over the Lekan Salami Stadium is more complicated than the latest political exchange suggests.
In January 2026, the Nigeria Football Federation had listed the Lekan Salami Stadium as the venue for Nigeria’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
The NFF subsequently requested a venue change, with the match moved to the MKO Abiola Sports Complex in Abeokuta. The reason given by NFF officials was concern about the condition of the playing surface at the Ibadan stadium. CAF approved the venue change.
That development provides factual background for the current political argument.
However, it does not by itself establish that the entire stadium renovation was a failure or that public funds were wasted. The government has maintained that the facility has hosted international football and that additional work is being carried out to meet evolving standards.
There is also evidence that the stadium’s pitch condition remained an issue during 2026. Shooting Stars Sports Club acknowledged concerns about the playing surface and said maintenance, grass treatment, levelling and watering were being undertaken to improve it.
What the disagreement is really about
At the heart of the dispute are two different questions.
For the APC campaign, the issue is whether the money spent on the projects has produced infrastructure that is sufficiently sustainable and fit for purpose.
For the state government, the focus is on the practical need to provide public lighting despite electricity-supply limitations and on the continuing development of infrastructure rather than judging projects solely by temporary setbacks.
The disagreement is therefore not simply about whether streetlights or a stadium exist. It is about cost, sustainability, project performance and accountability for public expenditure.
Those questions could ultimately be answered more convincingly through publicly available contracts, project budgets, expenditure records, technical assessments and certification documents rather than political statements from either side.
Political significance ahead of 2027
The dispute comes at a time when Makinde’s political profile has expanded beyond Oyo State.
Makinde declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election under the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in May 2026 and was subsequently presented as the party’s presidential candidate.
That development means his record in Oyo State is likely to receive increased scrutiny as the 2027 political cycle progresses.
For Alli, who is the APC’s Oyo governorship candidate, the projects provide an opportunity to challenge the record of the outgoing administration and present an alternative argument to voters.
For the Makinde administration, defending the projects is also part of protecting its broader governance record at a time when the governor is campaigning for national office.
What readers should watch next
The most important developments to watch are likely to be documentary rather than rhetorical.
Questions surrounding the streetlights could be clarified by records showing the original project cost, operating expenditure, source of power, number of installations and long-term energy plan.
The stadium controversy could similarly be assessed through technical inspection reports, CAF or NFF correspondence, renovation contracts, completion certificates and details of any ongoing upgrades.
Until such records are publicly examined, the competing claims from the APC campaign and the Oyo State Government remain political positions on disputed aspects of the projects.
What is already documented, however, is that the Lekan Salami Stadium faced pitch-related concerns in early 2026 that contributed to the relocation of the Falconets’ fixture against Senegal. The government has since maintained that further improvements are being made to the facility.
The streetlight dispute, meanwhile, has broadened into a debate over whether state governments should rely on diesel generation to maintain public lighting when grid electricity is unreliable, or accelerate investment in dedicated renewable and alternative-energy systems.
As the 2027 elections approach, both issues are likely to remain part of the wider debate over infrastructure, public spending and governance in Oyo State.
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