UPDATED: Makinde Declares 2027 Presidential Bid Under APM

Mr Makinde made the declaration on Thursday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during a joint mega rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM).

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election under the platform of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM).

Mr Makinde made the declaration on Thursday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during a joint mega rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

“The time to reset Nigeria is now. Therefore, today, I, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, announce my candidacy for the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the governor said at the rally packed with party supporters, party stalwarts, and political allies.

The event came amid growing political realignments within the opposition ahead of the 2027 general election cycle.

The governor, who framed his presidential aspiration as a mission to rescue Nigeria from bad governance, announced his plan to run on the platform of an alliance between the PDP and APM.

Mr Makinde was elected governor on the PDP platform in 2019 and for the second term in 2023. He will conclude his second term in office in 2027.

It is not clear how Mr Makinde’s declaration will affect his push to have a unified opposition against President Bola Tinubu. The Oyo governor recently hosted a summit of major opposition parties, at which they agreed to field a joint presidential candidate against President Bola Tinubu, who is presumed would emerge the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Makinde said the PDP-APM alliance, which he touted as the the first of its kind in the lead-up to the 2027 general elections, would field candidates for state assemblies up to the presidency.

“…For the past several months, one question has been at the top of my mind: where do we go from here? Is this how we should continue as a nation? We have been pushed to the wall with the belief that we will turn against ourselves or worst still, that we will become too weary to survive on a daily basis to fight back.

“They said opposition cannot unite, but I am here today to say that it is a miscalculation. The opposition in Nigeria is not just a political party. The opposition is the everyday Nigerian for whom the country does not work.

“So today in Ibadan, the first grand alliance is formed. The alliance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). This handshake will allow us to field candidates at all levels. We will field candidates from top to bottom. We will field candidates from the presidency to state assemblies, and everything in between,” The Cable quoted Makinde as saying.

Earlier, Mr Makinde formalised a political alliance by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the PDP and the APM alongside the APM’s National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle.

Although details of the MoU were not made public at the rally, the coalition could serve as a foundation for a broader opposition front, particularly as internal disputes continue to unsettle the PDP at the national level.

Politics of the Makinde–APM Alliance

Within the PDP, the Oyo State governor has been a prominent figure that has, at various times, clashed with the party’s national leadership over issues of internal democracy, zoning and power balance.

He has faced dwindling fortunes in PDP after his camp lost out in the legal leadership battle with the group aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the control of the party.

The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement laying the leadership dispute to rest, nullified the party’s convention held in Ibadan in November last year and the Kabiru Turaki-led national working committee elected during the meeting.

While he remains in the PDP, he is not on board with the national leadership favoured by the Supreme Court ruling.

Therefore, his decision to anchor a presidential bid on the APM platform, despite remaining a PDP governor, may be interpreted as a hedge against potential setbacks within his party’s presidential selection process.

For the APM, the alliance offers immediate political capital. The party, which has had limited national visibility, stands to gain from Governor Makinde’s incumbency, political structure in Oyo State and influence within sections of the PDP.

It also positions the APM as a potential rallying platform for disaffected politicians seeking alternatives outside the dominant parties.

There are also questions about how the Wike-led faction will respond to Governor Makinde’s cross-platform ambition, and whether it could trigger further fragmentation within the party or force negotiations that redefine its 2027 strategy.