Makinde Turn Against Tinubu and Says He Wants to Become Nigeria President in 2027

(Governor Seyi Makinde. Photo by The Africa Debate)
Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde has dropped his support for President Bola Tinubu and says he will challenge him in the 2027 presidential election.

In a long statement posted on his Reset Nigeria campaign platform on Thursday, he said he no longer believes the Tinubu administration is moving the country in the right direction.

Makinde said he backed Tinubu in 2023 because he hoped the president would bring people together in a government of national unity that could fix the economy.

After three years, he said, that has not happened.

He said his decision is about the country's future and young people's chances of a decent life, not a personal fight.

Makinde also recalled his own background.

His father was a teacher who later became an accountant, and his mother was a civil service telephone operator.

He went to Bishop Phillips Academy in Ibadan and the University of Lagos, where he studied electrical engineering.

He set up his own engineering firm at 29.

Makinde said that he entered politics after realising that charity could only help a few people.

He lost Senate and governorship races between 2007 and 2015, before winning the Oyo governorship in 2019.

Seyi also stated that he had no godfather in politics.

He listed four main complaints against the Tinubu government.

These are an economy that is stable on paper but not producing jobs or better incomes, a habit of blaming problems it inherited instead of showing clear progress, alliances built around political goals rather than national interest, and economic reforms that lacked protection for ordinary people.

On the removal of the petrol subsidy, Makinde said he supports reform but argues it should have been prepared for properly.

He said he would have used the transition to plan with the governors through the National Economic Council.

He pointed to Oyo's response within 11 days of the announcement, which included extra buses, unchanged fares, half price travel for students and senior citizens, and a relief programme called SAfER launched in August 2023.

He said the programme provided food to 200,000 households and loans and farm inputs to small businesses and farmers.

Makinde promised to serve only one four year term if elected and to lead a transitional government of national unity focused on measurable progress.

He released a Reset Nigeria Agenda setting out planned actions and expected results.

He urged Nigerians who are tired of elections to still vote in 2027, and asked them not to give up on the country.