Seyi Makinde, presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), has challenged Nigerians to consider the energy and stamina of candidates contesting in the 2027 presidential election.
The Oyo governor spoke on Thursday at the south-west town
hall meeting of the Makinde/Daura campaign organisation held in Akure, the Ondo
state capital.
Makinde said he would not make age an issue in the
presidential contest but would focus on candidates’ energy and ability to cope
with the demands of the office.
To drive home his point, he jumped off the stage and
challenged other presidential candidates to do the same.
“When they bring their presidential candidate, let the
candidate come here and also jump down,” he said.
“If they can do that, vote for them.”
I will not make age an issue in this campaign, but I will make it about energy – having energy, being able to stay up late, and having the rigour to deal with the challenges in the country. So, when they bring their own presidential candidate, let him come here and also jump down (jumps down from the stage). If they can do that, vote for them. - APM Presidential Candidate Governor Seyi Makinde spoke today in Ondo State
— Emma ik Umeh (Tcee )🇳🇬 (@emmaikumeh) October 22, 2026
The governor also defended his decision to contest the
presidency despite President Bola Tinubu, who is also from the south-west,
seeking re-election.
“I’ve listened to people who asked us why we are contesting
in this election when the south-west already has somebody sitting on that seat,
and I’ve explained to them that we have an example here in the south-west,” he
said.
Makinde cited the 1999 presidential election, when former
President Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, both from the region, contested
against each other.
“In 1999, the entire Nigeria ceded the presidency to the
South-West, and we had two of our fathers, Baba President Obasanjo and Baba Olu
Falae, contest the presidency, both from the south-west. And heaven did not
fall,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, what the south-west did was to present
two of its finest, two of its best, for Nigeria to choose from. Is there
anything wrong with us this time around?”
Makinde urged people in the region to reject what he
described as the politics of deceit and accused the Tinubu administration of
wasting taxpayers’ money.
He criticised Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s permanent
representative to the United Nations, over his trip from New York to Abuja to
present the UN budget to Tinubu.
Makinde questioned the need for the trip, arguing that the
federal government had yet to clarify which national budget it was operating.
“Well, they can waste the taxpayers’ money, but I refuse to
agree that you must use the taxpayers’ money to fly from New York to Abuja to
present the UN budget when, indeed, this is an administration where, right now,
we don’t know which budget they are operating on for Nigeria,” he said.
“Is it the 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 budget? And then they
are coming with the UN budget to say, ‘Look, this is the UN budget.’”
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