The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organization has predicted victory for Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde over President Bola Tinubu in states identified as major battlegrounds ahead of the 2027 presidential election, while arguing that poverty and economic hardship should dominate the campaign.
In a statement attributed to its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, the organization said its candidate, running on the Allied Peoples Movement platform, would defeat the president in the 12 states reportedly earmarked for personal campaign visits, as well as in other parts of the country.
The campaign named Oyo, Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos. It also identified Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory as areas where it believed the opposition could prevail. These were campaign predictions, not independent assessments of voter intention.
The organization accused the Tinubu administration of failing to relieve economic hardship and challenged the president to travel by road through communities in northern and other parts of Nigeria to observe the condition of highways and the daily difficulties facing residents. Its criticisms of government spending and political tactics were allegations advanced by the campaign.
Promoting what it called the RESET NIGERIA Agenda, the organization said Makinde proposed a four-year government of national unity built around education, economic recovery, security and institutional reform. It presented the agenda as an alternative to the administration’s Renewed Hope programme.
Separately, Makinde addressed the relationship between faith and public service after receiving an award at the Christian Association of Nigeria’s 50th anniversary celebration in Abuja. He encouraged Christians to participate in politics rather than withdraw from public affairs because of concerns about political conduct or religious differences.
The governor argued that the country’s most urgent challenge was widespread poverty, not religious identity. Drawing on biblical examples, he said people of faith could work within imperfect institutions while pursuing the public good.
The source account contained an inconsistency over Makinde’s party affiliation, identifying him as an APM presidential candidate in the campaign statement but later describing him as an APC candidate. His formal candidacy and party designation should be checked against official electoral records before publication.
With rival camps intensifying their rhetoric, the claims illustrate how economic conditions, regional alliances and the credibility of competing policy proposals are likely to feature in the approaching electoral contest.
