The Director-General of the Allied Peoples Movement Campaign Organisation, Felix Hyat, has urged Nigerians not to fear a presidency led by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, saying the presidential candidate has what it takes to reset the country and address its numerous challenges.
Hyat, who stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing participants at the inauguration of the North-Central zonal state coordinators of the Makinde/Daura Campaign Organisation, expressed confidence in the ticket’s capacity to provide the leadership needed to change Nigeria’s fortunes.
He said Nigeria could no longer afford to continue on its current path, citing insecurity and economic hardship among the challenges confronting the country.
The Makinde Campaign DG stated, “This journey begins at the polling units and moves to the ward headquarters, local government headquarters, state headquarters and, ultimately, the national level. Politics is local, and our work must be localised. Our mandate is to go to where the people are and share the most important product we have in Nigerian politics today: our presidential candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde.
“Those who have spoken have done justice to who he is. The Makinde/Daura ticket is a fantastic one. We have never had such a ticket in this country, and all of us who have been called upon to participate in this important mission of actualising it must count ourselves fortunate. My task is simply to stress the obvious and remind us of certain things.
“The first reminder is that our candidate is contesting on a party platform. That platform has a banner, a symbol and leaders at various levels of our national constitutional structure. Therefore, the importance of state chairmen of the party remains very significant and must be respected at all times.
“There is no party that can boast of being a party without candidates. Therefore, as far as we are concerned in this office, the second most important group of people is our candidates. The third group is made up of those of us responsible for delivering the mandate.”
Hyat urged campaign coordinators to unite and work towards securing victory for Governor Seyi Makinde in the 2027 presidential election.
The DG tasked them to intensify grassroots mobilisation across the North-Central region and beyond, stressing the need for commitment, sacrifice and urgency ahead of the election.
He added, “Elections are fought, won and lost at the polling units. Our polling unit managers and agents can determine our fate. Therefore, if I know that an agent can determine my fate, I must also be careful about the kind of agent I appoint. If I appoint an agent who is not capable of doing the job, I should not be surprised by the outcome.
“Therefore, we must take this message to the people who will vote. We must tell them that these representatives have abandoned them. I am sure they did not abandon the people without a reason. If they abandoned them for something, let them disclose what that is so that the people can make informed decisions.
“I fully agree with the positive assessments of our candidate. He is not an ordinary person. He has seen it all in the field of security, both in Nigeria and around the world. Therefore, Nigerians should have nothing to fear about the candidature of Governor Seyi Makinde. He is a decent, great person. Yes, a Nigerian can who can walk and work without being aided.
“We need leadership in Nigeria from somebody who can work and walk without being aided. A Nigerian leader should be able to enter a car and travel from here to Jos. I am sure if most of the presidential candidates try that, they will be travelling with a retinue of doctors.”
The Director-General of the Makinde Presidential Campaign Council called on Nigerians to support Makinde’s presidential ambition, saying the country needs a change in leadership to address its challenges.
He expressed confidence that the campaign would succeed in the January 16, 2027, presidential election, urging Nigerians not to lose hope or become discouraged.
The campaign DG also criticised political leaders who, he said, had abandoned their communities while claiming to represent the interests of Nigerians, adding that the 2027 election would demonstrate that the country belongs to its citizens.
In his remarks, the Campaign Council Deputy Director of Operations, Tony Aziegbemi, urged state directors to intensify grassroots mobilisation, describing them as field commanders responsible for promoting the candidate’s agenda on the economy, education, security and governance.
Aziegbemi blamed the APC-led Federal Government’s economic policies for worsening hunger and poverty, claiming that 35 million Nigerians go to bed hungry daily.
He stated, “The state directors are the ones who will take this message to our people because it is clear to every Nigerian that this APC-led administration has thrown the country and Nigerians into massive poverty.
“So much so that every night, 35 million Nigerians go to bed hungry. This is not my figure; it is the figure of the National Bureau of Statistics, a government agency. It has never happened in the history of this country. This APC-led administration has made it happen.
“Our job is pretty straightforward and simple. We need to reach at least 15 million of those hungry people who go to bed hungry every night. And it is not because they are lazy. It is because of the lack of logic and common sense in the economic policies of the APC administration.”
He promised that a Makinde / Daura administration would tackle hunger and poverty, assuring Nigerians that no citizen would go to bed hungry under their leadership.