2027: “Having more than one presidential candidate from S’West not new, it happened in 1999,” Makinde tells critics

Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, has defended his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the South-West can produce multiple candidates 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 cited the 1999 presidential election as an example of the region presenting more than one contender.

The governor said some 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 the region produced former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae as presidential candidates during the 1999 election.

He argued that presenting two candidates did not undermine the region, but instead gave Nigerians more options to choose from.

“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 campaign on his record in Oyo State than focus solely on criticising his opponents.

Makinde further criticised the Nigerian Government over the reported presentation of the United Nations budget to the President in Nigeria by the country’s permanent representatives to the UN.

He questioned the need to spend taxpayers’ money on travel from New York to Abuja for the presentation.

The governor also raised concerns about budget implementation, asking, “Is it 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026 budgets?”

Speaking about the presidential campaign, Makinde said he would focus on energy and stamina rather than make age a central issue.

“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 added.