Makinde: I’m On A Rescue Mission To ‘Reset’ Nigeria

Presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement, APMSeyi Makinde, says he has as much right to contest the 2027 presidential election alongside President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the incumbent and presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

The APC presidential candidate and current Governor of Oyo state was reacting to some suggestions in the country particularly that he should not b contesting the election because he’s from the same geopolitical zone like the incumbent.

With the two presidential candidates contesting the 2027 presidential election, the chances of the region to retain the Nigerian Presidency could be put in jeopardy, according to political pundits.

But speaking during a town hall meeting with party stakeholders in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Thursday, Makinde said there has been precedent in the country when two presidential candidates from the south west, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the federation ran for the nation’s presidency, saying the highest office in the country should not be the issue of ‘’turn by turn’’.

He stressed that the APM is the only party that has the solution to the nation’s myriads of economic and political problems, saying he’s the most qualified and prepared among the presidential candidates to rule the country, adding that the current administration of President Tinubu has failed to turn the country around since he came to office in 2023.

The Oyo state helmsman said he’s on a rescue mission of the country which he said he will reset using his capacity as a performer.

“The Allied People’s Movement is the only answer to the problems bedevilling Nigeria. Within the last three years, we haven’t gotten it right; we are indeed going to prove that we are the best. We have already set to work, and everything is on the ground,’’ Makinde said.

‎”People say, 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 when, in 1999, the entire Nigeria ceded the Presidency to the region, and we had two of our fathers, President Obasanjo, and Baba Olu Falae. They contested the Presidency, both from the South-West, 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 candidates for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around? I’ll get there. South-West must say no to politics of deceit.

‎”APM is a reset agent; get your PVC, and we will reset Nigeria. We want a Nigeria that works for everybody. It is not a Nigeria that works for very few.

“We say no to a turn-by-turn Nigeria where they say, ‘ Oh, it is my turn to run a nepotistic administration. And I’m saying this in front of the South-West people; we’re known for fairness.

‎‎”How do you have a Nigeria where somebody says, ‘Well, it is my turn’? You were given the opportunity. If you take your mind back to 1999, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae. But the rest of Nigeria voted for President Obasanjo. So it is not an issue that only the South-West can solve. It is an issue that we must solve collectively as Nigerians’’ he said.