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•Oyo gov secures APM 2027 presidential ticket
• Promises petrol pricing reforms, state policing, refinery overhaul
By Oluseye Ojo
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State yesterday formally entered the 2027 presidential race after clinching the presidential ticket of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM).
He was adopted as the party’s consensus candidate during the APM presidential primary and unveiling ceremony at Emeritus Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, Ibadan, where delegates from the 36 states endorsed him through a voice vote.
He will contest against notable presidential candidates, including the sitting President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is also from the South West geo-political zone like himself.
Makinde’s emergence came 15 days after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APM staged a mega unity rally in Ibadan.
In his acceptance speech, Makinde declared that Nigeria requires an urgent reset through sweeping reforms in security, energy, transportation and food systems.
According to him, Nigeria could no longer afford what he described as recycled leadership approaches that have failed to deliver security and prosperity.
“Our nation is hurting. Millions of Nigerians are weighed down by hunger, insecurity, rising transportation costs and uncertainty about tomorrow,.
“I believe the answer is simple; Nigeria must reset. We cannot continue recycling the same leadership approaches while expecting different results,” he said.
Makinde unveiled what he called the ‘Reset Nigeria Agenda’, anchored on security reforms, petroleum sector restructuring, transportation support, food sufficiency and institutional efficiency.
On insecurity, Makinde pushed for decentralisation of Nigeria’s security architecture, arguing that governors currently shoulder responsibilities without constitutional powers.
“Today, innocent schoolchildren and citizens abducted by terrorists are still in captivity. Governors are called Chief Security Officers, yet lack constitutional control over the agencies required to confront these threats,” he said.
Makinde, who pledged to prioritise security decentralisation if elected president, stated: ‘The safety of Nigerians will not be treated as a political talking point. It will be a national duty.”
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He also promised to reform petroleum pricing by introducing what he termed as fair, transparent and right-pricing templates to protect citizens from arbitrary fuel costs.
“Nigerians must benefit from being an oil-producing country just like other oil-producing nations,” he said.
He added that government failures should no longer determine fuel prices.
The APM presidential flagbearer pledged to overhaul the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), restructure re
finery ownership and stop what he described as continuous resource wastage.
“I dare dream that the NNPCL will become lean, efficient and commercially driven through institutional reforms,” he stated.
He further promised targeted interventions to ease transportation costs for workers, traders and students, while prioritising food security through improved agricultural data systems, production planning, logistics and storage infrastructure.
Makinde acknowledged that the occasion should ordinarily have been celebratory but said worsening insecurity in Oyo State and across the country had overshadowed festivities.
“This should have been a moment for celebration, but the recent security situation has turned it into a moment for reflection,” he said.
Earlier, APM National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, who presented the party’s flag and Certificate of Return to Makinde, described his emergence as the beginning of the ‘Reset Nigeria Movement’.
He said the decision to hand Makinde the ticket was informed by his governance record in Oyo State and what he described as a growing coalition involving the PDP, APM and Nigerians seeking alternative leadership.
Dantallle, who described Makinde as a seasoned political warrior, said Nigeria was at a crossroads and needed leadership capable of restoring confidence, equity and prosperity.
But Makinde framed his ambition as a national project rather than a personal quest.
“This journey is not about one man’s dream. It is about rebuilding belief in Nigeria again. It is about the Nigerian Dream,” he said.
