By Jude Opara
The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Engr. Seyi Makinde on Thursday in Abuja presented his manifesto, which he tagged ” Reset Nigeria Manifesto”, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Makinde who is also the governor of Oyo state said he is not contesting to become the president of Nigeria just for the name, but due to the inherent governance lapses that have retarded the nation’s development over the years.
He said under his presidency which he said will be for only four years, he would run what he described as a transitional government of national unity, with the sole aim of genuinely uniting the people of Nigeria.
According to him, the successive governments, and particularly the present administration have by their actions and inactions contributed in dividing the people along ethnic and religious lines.
“We are not in this race just because we want to occupy the highest office, we are in this race because we want to genuinely correct some of the ills that have bedeviled our country, and that is why, if elected on January 16, 2027, we will identify our administration as a transitional government of national unity.
“We will bring on board Nigerians from all walks to life, irrespective of their party affiliation, everybody who has something to offer must be brought on board. Nigeria needs institutions capable of working, not minding our differences.
“Political parties must come and go but our national development must be the focal point at all times”.
The APM presidential flag bearer further stated that the party’s manifesto was formulated after a wide range of consultations with stakeholders in all the six zones of the country, from where citizens made their input.
“Our manifesto was not just drawn by one or two persons, it’s a document we arrived at after a wide consultation with Nigerians from across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“In fact, in Bauchi someone asked if I would be the Balewa, or Awolowo or Zik of our time? What that question did was to throw me into a deep thought and the realization that our values have been eroded over time.
“Our founding fathers knew we were from different orientations and they catered for everyone, irrespective of the part of the country they come from”.
Makinde equally questioned the economic policies of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, saying they have not done anything to ease the sufferings of Nigerians, despite government’s claims of macroeconomic reforms.
“The simple truth is that government must make life much easier for the people by providing them with amenities and institutions that work”.
The presidential hopeful further revealed the four concerns that formed his decision to seek the presidency.
“Focusing on macroeconomic reforms as against the microeconomics that focuses largely on the welfare of the people is meaningless. What is macroeconomic stability when the people are hungry? A government policy must lower costs and ease the cost of living.
“Government must have to take responsibility with results of its policies. The culture of giving excuses without addressing the issues are not helpful. Our administration will not hide under excuses to perpetuate inefficiency.
“Nigeria is not poor, we only have leaders who are poor in ideas. Therefore, people living in poverty must be central to government decisions and policies.
We must lower the cost of production, but what we have today is a very high cost of production because we are using generators. Before people from Benin Republic used to come to Ibadan to buy plastics, but today the reverse is the case.
“Our democracy must be fluid. Today in American election, the opposition, the Democrats appear to be taking the lead and nobody is trying to subdue the decision of the people”.
He also took a swipe at the present administration by not implementing the yearly budgets cycles as they ought to, assuring that under his watch, within the all that would change because he will ask the people to hold him to account.
Also his remarks, the vice presidential candidate of the APM, Alhaji Lawal Daura decried what he described as the deliberate efforts of the present government to shrink the democratic space by refusing the opposition a level playing ground to operate.
Daura, a former Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) warned that the country risks losing its democracy, if the alleged harassment and intimidation of the opposition parties continue.
“Democracy develops on the platform of peace, understanding, honesty, sincereity and the likes. When that is absent, what you get is threats, where intimidations and harassments fester, there can be no democracy.
“When people try to use their privilege position to undermine the opposition, they are rather undermining themselves because when there is no opposition, then democracy is under a serious threat. We have to continue to do what we can to help democracy survive.
“Today we have an Electoral Act that is almost trying to suffocate democracy. We are sincerely trying to reset Nigeria. We will not be part of anything that will undermine the country and democracy”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the National Chairman of the APM, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle said the party is poised to not only take over governance in Nigeria, but to also deliver a people oriented government that would cater for every Nigerian.
Dantalle urged the electorates to support the party’s presidential candidate because according to him, he has shown a very strong leadership quality with the way he has ran the affairs of Oyo state.
In his goodwill message, National Chairman the Social Democratic Congress (SDP), Prof. Sadiq Gombe described Makinde as the light of democracy, because of his refusal to join the bandwagon of governors who dumped their parties to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
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