2027: Seyi Makinde, Spoiler or Gambler? – By Femi Akinsola
Since penultimate Saturday when Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State clinched the Presidential ticket of the Allied Peoples Movement under his Reset Nigeria Movement, the conversation in Ibadan, Lagos and Ogbomoso has shifted from hardship to what his move means for 2027.
Among civil servants, the sentiment is respect for his record in Oyo. Mrs Folake Ogunleye at the state secretariat said, “He pays salaries before month end, he revived our schools and lit up Ibadan. If he can take that discipline to Abuja, hunger will reduce. That is why many of us like him.”
Yet that respect quickly turns to doubt when people discuss structure. Alhaji Mutiu Adepoju, a PDP ward chairman in Ibadan South-West, told me, “APM has no ward exco in my local government. How will they man 176,846 polling units? Winning primary in Ibadan is not winning Nigeria.” A young lawyer in Bodija added, “You cannot remain a sitting PDP governor and run for president under APM. That is anti-party under the Electoral Act. Someone will sue.”
In Ekiti and within the PDP family, the talk is about loyalty. People recall the account of former Governor Ayodele Fayose, who said Makinde once disowned presidential flyers as the work of some boys and assured him he would never be used against a Yoruba man as president. Fayose now says the party will teach him a political lesson for destroying the South-West PDP. That view resonates in markets. Traders in Oja Oba put it simply, “Yoruba will not vote against Yoruba. The South-West must complete eight years like the North did under Buhari.”
In Lagos, youths who backed Peter Obi in 2023 fear a repeat of history. Tolu Adebayo, a tech worker in Yaba, said, “If Tinubu, Obi and Seyi Makinde all run from the South while Atiku holds a united North, the Southern vote splits into three. A divided South handed victory to the North in 2015 and 2023.” His friend added, “With South in three, the incumbent does not even need fifty per cent. Thirty-six per cent is enough to avoid a run-off under Section 134.”
Similarly, questions are being asked about the running mate. Residents in Ogbomoso said, “They say he picked Lawal Musa Daura, retired DSS oga from Katsina. That one has no votes. North-West follows Kwankwaso in Kano and Atiku in Katsina, not a retired officer.”
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Putting these voices together, the street verdict is clear. An APC chieftain in Oyo summarised it, “While PDP is in court over who is authentic chairman and APM has no structure in 23 states, the APC has governors, funds and federal spread. Makinde has expanded talk, but expansion without unity secures second term for the South-West at the centre.”
In essence, what people are saying is that competence alone does not win presidential elections. Zoning, structure and unity do. And on all three, the current alignment favours continuity for the South-West.
