Economic diversification, investment attraction and stronger internally generated revenue emerged as key battlegrounds at the Osun governorship election town hall, with candidates offering sharply different prescriptions for moving the state beyond dependence on federal allocations.
At the ARISE NEWS 2026 Governorship Election Town Hall in Osun State on Tuesday, the candidates debated how to turn the state’s increased monthly inflows into sustainable economic growth, jobs and improved public services, with agriculture, industrial processing, investment and electricity featuring prominently.
Munirudeen Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, argued that Osun could no longer afford to remain primarily dependent on government employment and federal allocations, promising to attract private capital and develop agriculture-based industries to expand the state’s revenue base.
Oyebamiji, a former managing director of the Osun State Investment Company and former commissioner for Finance, said the state’s monthly revenue had risen substantially from the period when he served in government.
He recalled that the state’s monthly revenue from Abuja was about N3.5 billion when he left office, against a wage bill of between N3.7 billion and N3.8 billion.
