The Save Oyo Movement has accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of diverting over N10 billion in public funds, including relief money for victims of the January 2024 Ibadan explosion, to finance political activities linked to a vice-presidential ambition.
The allegations, which threaten to ignite a fresh political firestorm in one of Nigeria’s most politically charged states, were made public on Sunday by the group’s coordinator, Akeem Oladiti, who announced plans to formally petition two of Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agencies.
At the heart of the fresh controversy is a political summit recently held in Ibadan, which SOM claims gulped a staggering N2 billion in public funds. The group alleged that the summit was not a governance initiative but rather a thinly veiled platform designed to advance the governor’s political interests on the national stage.
“This is not about developing Oyo State,” Oladiti declared. “This is about one man’s presidential or vice-presidential ambitions being funded with money that belongs to the people of Oyo State and, more distressingly, with money meant for victims who lost everything in a deadly explosion.”
Perhaps the most damning of SOM’s allegations concerns the N30 billion that Oyo State reportedly received as relief funds following the catastrophic January 2024 explosion in Ibadan, which claimed lives, destroyed properties, and left scores of families displaced and traumatized.
The group alleges that Governor Makinde diverted more than N10 billion from this fund, ostensibly meant to rebuild lives shattered by the disaster, into a web of political expenditures.
If true, the allegations would represent one of the most brazen cases of relief fund misappropriation in recent Nigerian political history, striking at the very heart of public trust in elected leadership.
SOM did not stop at the summit’s allegation. The group presented what it described as a detailed breakdown of the alleged misappropriation:
- N5 billion purportedly channelled into a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention held in November 2025 — an event the group described as a failed political exercise.
- N1.5 billion allegedly spent on a high-profile coronation event that, ironically, did not proceed as planned, raising questions about what became of the funds.
- N2 billion on the recent summit, which the group insists served partisan rather than public interests.
Taken together, the group alleges that these expenditures form a calculated pattern of using state resources as a personal political war chest.
Oladiti announced that the Save Oyo Movement would formally petition both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), urging both agencies to investigate the governor’s spending.
“We are calling on the relevant anti-corruption agencies to step in immediately,” he said. “Public funds must be properly accounted for. No governor, no matter how politically influential, is above the law or above accountability to the people he serves.”
The group further stressed that political ambition must never be permitted to ride on the backs of ordinary citizens, particularly those already ravaged by tragedy.
As of the time of this report, the Oyo State Government and Governor Makinde’s media team had not issued any official response to the allegations. It remains to be seen whether the governor’s aides will dismiss the claims as politically motivated or engage directly with the substance of SOM’s accusations.
Governor Makinde, a two-term governor who has cultivated a reputation as one of the PDP’s most prominent voices in the South-West, has in recent months been the subject of growing speculation regarding his national political ambitions.
Critics argue that this ambition has increasingly colored governance decisions in the state; supporters, however, insist his administration has delivered measurable development dividends.
Beyond the political theater, the allegations place a fresh spotlight on Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture and whether agencies like the EFCC and ICPC possess both the will and the independence to investigate sitting state governors of significant political standing.
For the thousands of Ibadan explosion victims who may still be awaiting full restitution, the allegations, if substantiated, would represent a profound and deeply personal betrayal.
The Save Oyo Movement has vowed to sustain pressure until a full and transparent public accounting is conducted. “The people of Oyo State deserve answers,” Oladiti concluded, “and we will not rest until they get them.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Save Oyo Movement has accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of diverting over N10 billion, including funds meant for victims of the January 2024 Ibadan explosion, to fuel what it describes as a personal vice-presidential ambition.
From a N2 billion political summit to a N5 billion party convention and a N1.5 billion coronation that never happened, the allegations paint a troubling picture of public funds being treated as a private political purse.
