Youths under the aegis of the Progressive Youths for Makinde’s Presidency 2027, in recent times, have taken over media space, leading the campaign for the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, to run for the office of President of Nigeria in 2027. National convener of the group, Prince Christopher Odianarewo, speaks, in this interview with BOLA BADMUS, on reasons Governor Makinde is good enough to be the next president of Nigeria. Excerpts:
YOUR group has been going about talking about the 2027 elections. What objective is the group meant to achieve?
I am Prince Christopher Odianarewo. I am the National Convener, Progressive Youths for Makinde’s Presidency 2027. Our aim is to help His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, take the lead in guiding the Nigerian ship out of its current economic and social decadence and towards a place of hope and prosperity, the Progressive Youths For Makinde’s Presidency is a non-profit political support organisation that transcends political parties.
Talking about 2027, don’t you think it is too early to begin any campaign now?
The time cannot be later than this for our political group. Nigeria is currently in a comatose state. Nothing appears to be functioning. Commodity prices have risen dramatically. There is a rise in insecurity. Investment and trade are at their worst. Daily meals are now luxury reserved for the wealthy rather than easily accessible requirements. We are living in a very challenging and stressful time as a country. Despite being an oil-rich country, we are experiencing a budget deficit. The contradiction of having a wealth of natural and mineral resources yet nevertheless we are experiencing poverty that has gripped our country.
Therefore, the moment is now for our political group. We require a trustworthy leader with the necessary abilities and expertise to rescue us from this predicament. Therefore, in our opinion, now is the ideal moment to begin discussing the 2027 presidential election.
But why Governor Makinde? Considering the fact that the current occupier of Aso Rock Villa is a Southerner.
Over the years, Governor Seyi Makinde has shown himself to be an excellent politician and administrator. The ability to use very strong political and administrative skills when needed most is the best skill of a governmental or political leadership position, according to our political organisation and everyone who is willing to listen. These two abilities complement each other. Our observations and findings indicate that a significant portion of the people we have studied, both in the political and private or corporate spheres, only demonstrated one of the two abilities we listed above (political and administrative skills). Every individual in the private or business sector demonstrated excellent leadership. All corporate and private sector representatives have shown great leadership abilities in management and administration, but none in local or global politics. A significant portion of the political elite, using the same format or template, as you might call it, had strong political will but no managerial or administrative abilities. Since our beloved country is sinking and needs to be rescued, this became a major concern for us as a political group.
Therefore, we did more research than we had intended. Fortunately, our research team unexpectedly came upon the profile of Governor Makinde. We believe that while geographical zoning agreements for political positions are not part of our country’s constitution, they are crucial for the future. For us, it is crucial that succeeding governments build on geographical zoning accords for political positions in order to promote justice and inclusion, even though these agreements are not part of our country’s constitution. Indeed, we greatly benefit from the fact that the present president of Nigeria is from the South-West and belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC). As you may remember, the discussion for a Southern president arose since the most recent president of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, who ruled for eight years, is a Northerner. The majority delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its 2022 presidential primary’s chose a Northerner in person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as their presidential candidate, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) elected a Southerner at its 2022 presidential primary, who happens to be the current president of Nigeria having won the 2023 presidential election.
Since zonal attitudes contributed more to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) internal rift, this had a significant impact in the general election. However, as the current president is from the South and Governor Makinde is from the same region, the PDP will benefit by fielding Makinde.
Governor Makinde’s campaign would have resolved the geopolitical zonal sentimental approach that somewhat affected the PDP in the 2023 presidential election.
The PDP to which Governor Makinde belongs is embroiled in leadership crisis right now. Don’t you think the crisis will affect the party’s chances in 2027?
Among other parties that were floated in 1998, the PDP has been the only party to survive since then. We think that its [PDP’s] emphasis on the needs of the people has kept it strong up to this point, which is why we think the party has a very good chance of winning the general election in 2027. Because we are human, we may occasionally have different opinions regarding the same issue. However, the Peoples Democratic Party has always been able to use its highly active internal process to handle its problems in the most amicable way when they emerge, which has strengthened the party. For the record, there is no leadership crisis in the PDP.
But what do you see about his administration in Oyo State that makes your group to be rooting for him to take over from President Tinubu in 2027?
In the areas of social security, education, and athletic participation, Governor Makinde has excelled. Despite the low internally generated revenue and federal allocations, he has made impact in every aspect of life. Although we had the honour of evaluating a few other governors, we believe that Governor Makinde is the best from the South. As the sole option for improved and more effective governance, the Peoples Democratic Party is currently growing stronger.
Do you think he has the grassroots support even in the South-West to defeat President Tinubu, given the sort of sentiments that always play out in Nigeria’s political landscape?
Who are the grassroots? The grassroots are [those of us campaigning for him now]. Before becoming the Oyo State governor in 2019, this man had no political or elective experience, and he went on to defeat his opponents handily. This is sufficient proof to support our belief that the public is firmly in his favour.
What sort of strategies are you putting in place to ensure that your candidate wins the PDP presidential ticket given that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike may also be interested in the party’s ticket?
The people are our approach. At our end, we have initiated a series of consultations with the public and key PDP stakeholders, and the responses we have received thus far have been overwhelmingly supportive. In fact, the enthusiasm becomes really interesting once we bring up Governor Makinde as a presidential candidate during most of our discussions, and it seems that the people have already endorsed him. We have not heard back from the camps of former Governor Nyesom Wike or Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. However, we think that if Makinde appears, everyone will pay attention because he is a greater unifying figure and a bridge builder.
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