Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has defended his decision to seek Nigeria’s presidency in 2027, arguing that the South-West can present more than one candidate without compromising the region’s political interests.
Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), spoke on Thursday at the party’s South-West town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State, where he cited the 1999 presidential election as an example of the region producing two contenders.
The governor said some people had questioned his decision to join the presidential race on the grounds that the South-West already had a representative in the presidency.
“I’ve listened to people. They said to us, ‘Seyi Makinde, why are you contesting in this election when the South-West already has somebody seated on that seat?’ And I’ve explained to them, we do have an example here in the South-West,” he said.
He recalled that the region produced former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae as presidential contenders during the 1999 election.
“And heaven did not fall. As a matter of fact, what the South-West did was to present two of their finest, two of their best for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around?” Makinde asked.
The governor also urged voters to reject what he described as deceptive politics, saying his campaign would focus on his record in Oyo State rather than depend solely on criticism of political opponents.
Turning to the Federal Government, Makinde questioned the reported presentation of Nigeria’s United Nations budget to President Bola Tinubu in Abuja by the country’s permanent representatives to the UN. He raised concerns about the cost of travelling from New York to Nigeria for the presentation and the use of public funds.
He also challenged the government to explain the state of budget implementation, asking: “Is it 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026 budgets?”
On the issue of age in the presidential contest, Makinde said he would rather make energy and physical stamina central to his campaign than focus on candidates’ ages.
“While I will not make age an issue of this campaign, I will make energy. Having energy. Being able to stay up late, have the rigours, have the energy to deal with the challenges that we are faced with as a country,” he said.
Makinde further challenged other presidential contenders to demonstrate their physical stamina during the campaign.
“So please, when they bring their own presidential candidates, let the candidates come here and also jump down. If they can do that, vote for them,” he said.
His remarks placed regional representation, government accountability and the physical demands of presidential leadership among the issues he intends to raise as the 2027 election approaches.
The claims about government spending and budget implementation were raised by Makinde during his address and were not independently verified in the account of the meeting.
