Presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) Seyi Makinde has pledged to establish a four-year transitional government of national unity if elected in 2027.
He promised to reset Nigeria’s security architecture economy and political system.
He also predicted that the APM would win the election and that its national leader and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed would become Senate President.
Makinde who is the Oyo State governor spoke yesterday in Akure at the party’s Southwest town hall meeting.
He rejected ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’ and defended his candidacy despite President Bola Tinubu’s emergence from the same zone saying the region would have to choose between them.
Mohammed described Makinde as a tested and trusted candidate and promised that his administration would create jobs for unemployed youths.
He warned those working against the party to desist from sowing division saying the APM would take lawful measures against them.
The vice-presidential candidate Lawal Daura said the meeting showed encouraging support for Makinde.
He urged members to guard against infiltration and promised that an APM government would ease hardship and improve citizens’ welfare.
National Chairman Yusuf Mamman Dantalle urged Nigerians to look beyond political religious and ethnic differences and demand better governance.
He said only Makinde could fix the country from the damage done by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Makinde urged voters to reject nepotism political exclusion and a system in which leadership and development were treated as entitlements.
He said Nigeria needed a government focused on productivity infrastructure and shared prosperity rather than ethnic or regional considerations.
‘We do not want turn-by-turn nepotism. We also do not want a situation where someone says ‘I will execute projects in my zone because it is my turn” he said.
He argued that such an approach would leave projects unfinished and prevent the country from deriving value from its resources.
Makinde cited his administration’s budget performance in Oyo State saying it had risen from between 28 and 30 per cent when he assumed office to more than 70 per cent with the state sustaining a January-to-December budget cycle.
He called for a productive economy that would reduce dependence on federal allocations arguing that government should tax prosperity rather than poverty.
‘When they are productive they become prosperous. When they become prosperous tax their prosperity. Do not tax poverty’ he said.
On security he promised a comprehensive overhaul to enable economic activities to continue beyond 8pm.
He also pledged to address infrastructure deficits and the concerns of young people and women.
Makinde accused the ruling party of using its influence to undermine opposition parties.
‘There is no democracy in a one-party system’ he said urging the Federal Government to allow opposition parties to operate freely.
Accompanied by Daura and Mohammed Makinde said two presidential candidates from the South-West would not be unusual.
He recalled the 1999 election in which the zone produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae as candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
‘And heaven did not fall. As a matter of fact what Southwest did was to present two of their finest two of their best candidates for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around?’ he asked.
He said voters should be allowed to choose on merit rather than regional considerations and that the region should not be restricted to a single candidate.
Makinde said his Reset Nigeria Agenda would focus on economic recovery education security prosperity and the socio-political environment. ‘I am a reset agent’ he said.
He urged Nigerians to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
‘Be a reset agent get your PVC and we will reset Nigeria. We want a Nigeria that works for everybody. It is not Nigeria that works for very few’ he said.
Mohammed said the party chose Makinde for his experience and vision and that the APM was ready to offer Nigerians an alternative to the current administration.
He urged supporters not to be intimidated by the political environment insisting that change required commitment and hard work rather than campaign rhetoric.
On those he accused of trying to infiltrate the party he said: ‘Some people out of desperation have already started or resorted to trying to infiltrate our ranks to cause some kind of destruction.
‘But I say to them they are late. And I am warning if they do not desist we will definitely take measures as allowed by the law to make sure that we shame them. This is not an empty threat.’
He urged members to scrutinise those seeking to associate with them and resist attempts to distract them from their political objectives.
Daura similarly warned against infiltration and internal distractions.
Dantalle said citizens must take responsibility for fixing the nation. ‘It is high time to change the narrative; the will of the people must be done. Nobody will fix Nigeria for us unless we rise to fix the country by ourselves’ he said.