Makinde Announces Fresh Move in Presidential Race Against Tinubu

Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has announced a fresh step in his campaign for the 2027 presidential election.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the politician is scheduled to inaugurate the party’s Oyo State Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olarenwaju, the inauguration will take place on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Governor’s Office in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The statement said the Executive Chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Nureni Adeniran, will serve as the Oyo State Coordinator of the APM 2027 Presidential Campaign as well as the Director-General of the state’s Governorship Campaign Council.

It added that former Chairman of Oyo East Local Government, Saheed Arowosaye, has been appointed Deputy State Coordinator of the APM 2027 Presidential Campaign, while Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon. Demola Ojo, will serve as Deputy Director-General for Oyo South.

Dr Femi Ojo and Alhaji Siju Lawal were named Deputy Directors-General for Oyo Central and Oyo North Senatorial Districts respectively. Hon. Ramata Agberemi Dabo will head the Women’s Wing as Director, while former Special Assistant (Youth) to Governor Makinde, Hon. Kazeem Bolarinwa, will serve as Director of the Youth Wing.

“The Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board, Nureni Adeniran, will serve as both the Oyo State Coordinator of the APM 2027 Presidential Campaign and the Director-General of the state Governorship Campaign Council.

“Other members include Saheed Arowosaye, former Chairman of Oyo East Local Government, as Deputy State Coordinator, APM 2027 Presidential Campaign.

“Hon Demola Ojo, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, as Deputy Director-General (South).

“Dr Femi Ojo and Alhaji Siju Lawal as Deputy Director-General for Oyo Central and Oyo North Senatorial Districts, respectively. Hon. Ramata Agberemi Dabo as Director, Women’s Wing. Hon. Kazeem Bolarinwa, former Special Assistant (Youth) to Governor Makinde, as Director, Youth Wing.

“Additional members of the campaign structure will be announced in due course.”

The latest development comes days after Makinde reaffirmed his determination to remain in the 2027 presidential race despite mounting political pressure.

In the 142nd edition of his newsletter, the governor disclosed that an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain warned him against contesting the presidency shortly before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched what he described as a broad investigation into Oyo State’s finances.

Makinde said the sequence of events began after he stated during a Channels Television interview in April 2025 that he had the capacity to become Nigeria’s president, although he had not formally declared his ambition at the time. According to him, following the APC’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu as its sole candidate for the 2027 election, an APC chieftain publicly warned him on June 1, 2025, not to contest the presidency.

The governor said that a day later, the EFCC wrote to the Oyo State Accountant-General requesting documents relating to every government contract and all payments made to contractors from 2021 without identifying any specific contractor, transaction or alleged offence under investigation.

Makinde explained that his administration asked the anti-graft agency to specify the contractors or transactions it was investigating but received no response, prompting the state government to seek judicial interpretation of the commission’s request.

The Federal High Court in Ibadan later ruled that although the EFCC has the constitutional authority to investigate financial crimes, its powers must be exercised within the law. The court described the commission’s request as speculative because it was not linked to any specific allegation of wrongdoing.

Reacting to the judgment, Makinde insisted that the ruling was “not a victory against the EFCC” but “a victory for the rule of law.”

He also dismissed speculation that his presidential ambition was only a bargaining tool to negotiate a future withdrawal from the race.

“I did not step forward in order to step down. I am going forward,” the governor declared.

Makinde had earlier formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election, saying Nigeria needed a new direction. He also announced a political alliance between his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction in Oyo State and the Allied Peoples Movement ahead of the next general election.