Mujeeb Akindoyin
Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, Seyi Makinde, has picked a former Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Musa Daura, as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde announced Daura’s selection on Thursday at the APM’s elective national convention held at the Rilwanu Adamu Square, Government House, Bauchi.
The governor, while unveiling his running mate, said the opposition’s task ahead of the 2027 election went beyond defeating the ruling party and taking over government.
He said the major responsibility was to offer Nigerians a credible alternative and demonstrate how an alternative government would improve their lives through measurable policies and results.
Makinde said, “As we approach 2027, therefore, I believe the task before all of us is bigger than winning an election. It is to give Nigerians a real choice about the future of their country.”
He urged the newly elected national officers of the party to collaborate with other opposition parties to build a formidable platform ahead of the general election.
According to him, a strong and credible opposition is essential to the survival of democracy.
“As I said during the Ibadan Declaration in April this year, the presence of credible opposition is what sustains democracy.
“So, our new leaders must be ready to work with other opposition parties to ensure that we give Nigerians a credible alternative in the 2027 general election,” he said.
The APM presidential candidate said the 2027 campaign would be dominated by political slogans, promises and declarations but urged Nigerians to demand evidence of performance from those seeking their votes.
Makinde said the election should focus on measurable outcomes rather than government announcements and policies that failed to translate into better living conditions.
“The 2027 election must be an election about outcomes. For too long, we have measured governance by announcements. We are presented with policy after policy, rather than evidence of whether those policies have made people’s lives better,” he said.
He said the impact of economic policies should be measured from the perspective of ordinary Nigerians, particularly their purchasing power.
Makinde noted that citizens experienced economic policies not through official statistics but through what their incomes could buy in the markets.
“When our mothers go to the market, they don’t experience economic policy as a statistic. They experience it in what their money can buy. How much rice, beans and gari they can take home,” he said.
The governor also said young Nigerians would judge government’s employment policies by whether they could secure productive jobs and achieve economic independence.
He added that farmers would assess agricultural policies based on productivity, access to markets and whether farming had improved their livelihoods.
On security, Makinde said government should be judged by whether citizens could travel, work, farm and sleep without fear, rather than by the number of security meetings held by officials.
“Families do not judge security by the number of meetings government has held. They judge it by whether they can travel, farm, work and sleep with their two eyes closed,” he said.
He said the central question Nigerians should ask in 2027 was not what government claimed to have achieved but what had actually changed in the lives of citizens.
“The question before Nigeria in 2027 should not simply be: What has government done? It should be: What has changed for Nigerians?” he said.
Makinde, however, said opposition candidates must also be prepared to face scrutiny by explaining what they intended to do differently and the measurable improvements Nigerians should expect if they won the election.
He said his administration in Oyo State had adopted an approach that focused on the impact of government programmes rather than the number of projects announced.
The governor identified poverty reduction, employment, education, healthcare and security as key issues that should shape the political debate ahead of the 2027 election.
He also congratulated the new national officers of the APM, describing the party as an opposition force that had rapidly emerged as a political platform to reckon with.
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