Allied Peoples Movement Presidential candidate and Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of stifling opposition parties.
The APM presidential flagbearer, who spoke in Uyo during the MakindeDaura 2027 Presidency South South Town hall meeting, said that prior to the 2023 Presidential elections, the APC had no foothold in the South South states, but after the election, the party went on the drive of stifling other political parties.
He stated, “I can tell you they are doing everything possible to ensure that the opposition does not unite. But I have news for them; I am here in the South-South area and I deal with data, with logic, with science.
“Out of the six states in this region, five were not APC. The day after the election, your mandate that you gave freely was taken to APC because of this administration. You have the time now to retrieve your mandate. Tell them who owns this region.
“I am one hundred and one percent sure that just like during the 2023 elections, this zone did not vote APC, they will vote APM in the next election.”
The governor explained that the Federal Government was undertaking huge projects and abandoning them along the way, stressing that the government of President Bola Tinubu was complicating the lives of Nigerians with unrealistic policies and projects.
“You cannot keep complicating the lives of Nigerians. Everything from them is mega. They want to do a super highway. There is a Presidential Initiative for CNG, but it came to nothing. Naira for crude came to nothing. Has it translated to lower cost of transportation for millions of Nigerians?
“Now, they said they want to modulate the price of petroleum products, they want to modulate the lives of millions of Nigerians, they want to modulate the destiny of the most popular black nation on the face of the earth.
“Don’t complicate things and say, this policy, that policy. Give us the template. Once we have the template, we can point out the real figures and tell you how to make it work for millions of Nigerians,” he stated.
Outlining that APM’s ‘Reset Agenda’ was hinged on education, economic growth, security, and federalism in Nigeria, Makinde said though the South South region was rich in oil, the people are poor, adding that the APM would ensure economic growth for Nigeria, submerged in skills and knowledge acquisition, and the complete resolution of military policy, among other things.
