Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has defended his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying the South-West can produce more than one presidential candidate without undermining the region’s interests.
Makinde spoke on Thursday at the party’s South-West town hall meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, where he argued that the region had previously presented two presidential contenders during the 1999 election.
He said critics had questioned his decision to enter the race because the South-West already had a presidential candidate.
“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.
Makinde recalled that in 1999, the region produced former President Olusegun Obasanjo and another candidate, Olu Falae, who contested the presidency.
“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?” he asked.
The governor also urged voters in the region to reject what he described as the politics of deceit, saying he would rather focus on his record in Oyo State than merely criticise his opponents.
Makinde criticised the Federal Government over the reported presentation of the United Nations budget to the President in Nigeria by the country’s permanent representatives to the UN, questioning the need to spend taxpayers’ money on the trip from New York to Abuja.
He also questioned the government’s budget implementation, asking, “Is it 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026 budgets?”
Speaking further, Makinde said he would focus on energy and stamina rather than age during the campaign.
“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.
He challenged other presidential candidates 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,” Makinde said.