By Ayobami Okerinde
Seyi Makinde, Oyo State governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has defended his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the South-West can field two candidates.
His position comes as President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking re-election for a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is from the same region.
The governor spoke on Thursday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the APM Makinde/Daura Campaign Organisation’s South-West town hall meeting.
Defending his decision, Makinde cited the 1999 election, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Olu Falae, both from the South-West, contested the presidency.
“The southwest zone of Nigeria has always been in the forefront of a better country for us. I’ve listened to people; they said to us, ‘Seyi Makinde, why are you contesting in this election when the southwest already has somebody seated on that seat?’
“I explained to them, ‘We do have an example here in the southwest when, in 1999, the entire Nigeria ceased the presidency to the southwest, and we had two of our fathers, Baba President Obasnajo and Baba Olu Falae; they contested the presidency both from the same region, and heaven did not fall
“As a matter of fact, what the Southwest did was to present two of their finest and best for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around?” he asked.
The governor urged the region to reject what he described as the “politics of deceit”, saying his administration’s record in Oyo State offered examples of what he could deliver.
Makinde questioned the decision of Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, to present the UN budget to President Tinubu, arguing that the expenditure was unjustified amid uncertainty over Nigeria’s own budget implementation.
“I was watching on TV two days ago; Nigeria’s permanent representative at the United Nations brought the budget of the UN to present to the president of Nigeria in Nigeria. They can waste the taxpayers’ money because I refuse to agree that you must use the taxpayers’ money to fly from New York to Abuja to present the UN budget when, in fact, this is an administration that right now we don’t know which budget we’re operating on for Nigeria.
“Is it the 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 budget? And then they’re coming with the UN budget to say this is it.”
He contrasted the situation with his administration’s record in Oyo State, saying budget performance had improved from between 28 and 30 per cent when he assumed office to more than 70 per cent over the past seven years.
Makinde said the improvement was sustained annually and added that his administration had operated a budget cycle running from January to December.
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