2027: South-West can present two presidential candidates- Makinde

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, the Presidential Candidate of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), says two presidential candidates of different political parties can be from the South-West region and contest the forthcoming 2027 General Elections.

Makinde said this on Thursday during the Makinde-Daura 2027 Presidential Town Hall Meeting for the South-West region held at the Olusegun Mimiko International Event Centre in Akure.

According to the governor, the South-West should be able to produce another presidential candidate despite President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, also hails from the region and currently occupies the position.

“People have asked us why we are contesting this election when the South-West already has somebody occupying that seat.

“There is nothing wrong with my decision to contest the 2027 presidential election against Tinubu despite both of us coming from the South-West geopolitical zone.

“The choice of who governs Nigeria should not be determined solely by geographical considerations, but by competence, capacity and the ability to deliver good governance.

“My ambition is driven by the desire to provide Nigerians with an alternative leadership capable of addressing the country’s economic, security and developmental challenges.

“The South-West region presented two presidential candidates during the 1999 general election, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae contested against each other.

“The  development did not create any crisis, but rather provided Nigerians with an opportunity to choose between two prominent candidates from the same region.

“As a matter of fact, what the South-West did was to present two of its finest, two of its best, for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around?” he asked.

The presidential candidate also said he would not make age an issue of his campaign, but would do so with the issue of energy.

“Having energy, being able to stay up late and having the strength to deal with the challenges we face as a country are important. We want a Nigeria that works for everybody. It is not a Nigeria that works for a very few.

“We will work on the security architecture of Nigeria such that our economy will not shut down at 8 p.m. We will expand our economy.

“When people are productive, they become prosperous. When they are prosperous, tax prosperity. Don’t tax poverty. The Reset Agenda is for us to tax prosperity, not poverty,” he said.

Also, the National Chairman of APM, Mr Yusuf Dantale, said “the message is very simple and clear, which is to reset Nigeria”.

“We have a National Assembly, who are not seen to be representative of the people. What is democracy? It is about everybody coming together to decide,” he said.

Similarly, Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, said candidates of the party, from the president to its vice, were all young and agile to bring dividends of democracy to the people.

“We are young, we are driven by plans, Makinde has done it at sub-national level, he can fix Nigeria. Today, we are the biggest competition in the country.

“We believe in rotation, live and let live. It is not about posters and billboards, it’s about the mind. We believe in him,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Eddy Olafeso, the South-West Zonal Coordinator of Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Council, appreciated the state directors for their commitment and readiness to push for the presidential candidate’s success at the polls.

“The mission for us is to redefine the commitment to Nigeria, the responsibility of government is to serve the people and not the other way round,” he said.