As a mark of their displeasure towards decades of political marginalisation in the governance of Oyo State, a coalition of eminent indigenes across 22 Local Government Areas outside Ibadan, under the aegis of “Oyo G22 Renewed”, has said that the next governor of the state should not be an Ibadan indigene.

In an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, Governor Seyi Makinde, and the state and National Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and African Democratic Congress (ADC), the group decried what it termed a “historic and intolerable imbalance and insensitivity being perpetrated in Oyo State as far as the governorship slot is concerned.”

Among the signatories were Prof. Wande Abimbola (former VC, University of Ife, now Oba Emi Awolowo University); Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof. Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Dr Adesokan Ojebode, Prof. Nurain Tanimowo, Mr Dokun Alagbe, Dr Akin Onigbinde, and General Kunle Togun (Rtd).

The group noted that since 1983, Ibadan has produced six of the state’s governors, including the late Dr Omololu Olunloyo, Chief Kolapo Ishola, Alhaji Lamidi Adesina, Sen. Rasidi Ladoja, late Sen. Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent Seyi Makinde.

“The only exception was the late Adebayo Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso, who served between 2007 and 2011,” the statement said.

Calling for a power shift in 2027, the group urged all political parties to zone their governorship tickets to Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, or Oke-Ogun, noting that, “A cursory look at the pattern of governorship candidates and elections in other South West states has revealed that, contrary to the winner-takes-all situation in Oyo State, no particular zone has been dominating the political landscape of their respective states”.

While further arguing that Ibadan does not hold the numbers to justify such dominance, the group said, “All told, the voting pattern in Oyo State has consistently shown that only 30 per cent of the voting population in Ibadan are Ibadan indigenes.

“The implication of this is that the remaining 70 per cent belong to the other zones of the state, as well as non-indigenes of Oyo State,” they said.

While appealing directly to Ibadan elites, the group said: “We urge our Ibadan co-compatriots to abandon their uncompromising posture and, in the interest of justice, peaceful co-existence, equity, and fairness, allow candidates from the 22 LGAs outside Ibadan to produce the next governor”, adding that its members are determined to back only parties that support its demand.

“We, on behalf of the 22 local government areas outside Ibadan in the state, are determined to make the following changes: that all political parties in the state should support this peaceful and legitimate demand of the remaining four zones in the state by ensuring that their respective parties nominate governorship candidates from among the 22 local government areas for the 2027 general election.

“That you prevail on your political platform to make this a reality and a realisable objective in the interest of all. While we are not oblivious to the fact that you belong to different political platforms, apart from our current interest in rotating the governorship seat in Oyo State, as a neutral body, we wish every platform success in the forthcoming general election in 2027.

“However, we would be earnestly delighted to give our unflinching support to those who support this, our only aspiration. In thanking you for giving thoughts to this, our humble consideration, we are confident that your intervention, as the leaders of your various platforms, would soften the hearts of our Ibadan co-compatriots on this vexed issue,” the letter read.

“Citing examples from neighbouring states, the group argued that, unlike Oyo, where Ibadan has largely dominated the governorship, Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti have typically produced governors who are not indigenes of their state capitals.

“For instance, since the creation of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States, apart from rotating the governorship slot, no indigene of the state capitals—Akure, Osogbo, and Ado-Ekiti—has been elected governor of these three states.

“The citizens of the state capital have always ensured that the governor comes from outside the state capital. In Ogun State, the slot oscillates between the Egbas and the Ijebus.

“Even at the federal level, if the North had weaponised its famed voting population, no southerner would have emerged as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is where the seeming uncompromising posture of Ibadan becomes an issue,” the letter concluded.