So It’s Transformer Season in Alaro? APC and APM Suddenly Compete to ‘Serve’ the Voters
The sudden attention being given to infrastructure in Alaro, within Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State, deserves more than a casual look.
Neither the APC nor the APM is doing what it is doing in Alaro simply for God's sake or purely in the spirit of doing the right thing, obeying the law, taking responsibility or delivering the dividends of democracy.
The reality, as many political observers would argue, is that political value and votes are central to the calculation. Both parties are trying to shape voter perception ahead of the 2027 elections.
For your information, the APM transformer has arrived and has been installed, while the APC transformer is standing beside it, yet to be installed. Both transformers are also carrying their respective publicity posters and party colours.
This raises a very important question: Is this simply about providing electricity infrastructure, or is it also part of a wider political contest for the hearts and votes of residents?
Why Alaro Matters Politically
To understand the intense political interest in this area, one must look at the electoral mathematics of Ibadan North.
Ibadan North is one of the most electorally significant local government areas in Oyo State. In the 2023 governorship election, the LGA had 272,196 registered voters, according to figures reported from the collation process. It was therefore an extremely important electoral constituency.
Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP has also demonstrated significant electoral strength in the LGA.
In the 2019 governorship election, Makinde polled 40,785 votes in Ibadan North, while APC candidate Adebayo Adelabu recorded 18,868 votes, giving the PDP a margin of approximately 21,917 votes.
In 2023, the reported governorship figures showed PDP with 39,658 votes against APC's 11,883 votes, giving PDP a much larger margin of 27,775 votes. These figures were reported from the state collation exercise and independently reproduced by several Nigerian news outlets.
The implication is straightforward: although PDP's own vote total was slightly lower than in 2019, APC's vote fell considerably, allowing PDP's winning margin to increase.
Ward VIII: A Small Political Giant
Alaro becomes even more interesting when viewed within Ward VIII (N6A Part III) of Ibadan North.
The ward covers the broader Sango–Ijokodo–Agbaje–Alaro/Polytechnic axis, and the available polling-unit database records 63 polling units and 31,421 registered voters in the ward.
The official polling-unit listings include locations such as Sango Alarometa, Transformer Sango, Agbaje Junction, Sango Alaro, Cottage Clinic Sango, Gateway Baptist Sango and Alaro, alongside several polling units around Ijokodo and the Polytechnic corridor.
That is why political gladiators cannot afford to ignore Ward VIII.
APC wants to take it. APM would not want APC to take the bite.
And that is where seemingly ordinary community projects can acquire extraordinary political significance.
The Bigger Question
There is absolutely nothing wrong with political parties contributing to community development. In fact, residents deserve electricity, good roads, water, security and other basic infrastructure regardless of the political party responsible for providing them.
But residents also have every right to ask who is providing what, when it is being provided, why it is being provided and whether the intervention will continue after the election season.
If transformers are genuinely being supplied to solve the electricity challenges of Alaro, residents should welcome the development.
However, if political parties are using public infrastructure projects primarily as campaign tools, voters should equally be able to distinguish between genuine service to the people and electoral investment.
The people of Alaro and the wider Ward VIII will ultimately decide what these gestures mean to them.
One thing is certain: with more than 31,000 registered voters in Ward VIII and Ibadan North's enormous electoral weight, nobody should expect the political gladiators to treat Alaro as ordinary terrain ahead of 2027.
The transformers may be about electricity today.
But politically, they may also be about something much bigger: votes in 2027.
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