Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has warned against another four years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying Nigeria cannot afford to continue on its present trajectory amid hunger, insecurity and shrinking opportunities for citizens.
Makinde, speaking in an exclusive interview with ARISE News Anchor Ojy Okpe, said his opposition to Tinubu was not driven by personal animosity but by his assessment of the administration’s performance and what another term would mean for the country.
“Another four years of what we’ve witnessed so far… it has to leave,” Makinde said.
The governor, who supported Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, said his decision to oppose the President now followed his conclusion that the administration had failed to deliver the kind of government Nigerians were promised.
Makinde pointed to hunger, insecurity and a lack of opportunities and skills among the challenges confronting Nigerians, arguing that the country needed a fundamental change in direction rather than another four years of the same approach.
He also criticised what he described as a situation where a President elected with a minority of the votes cast was “lording it over Nigerians,” rather than seeking to build a broader national consensus.
Elsewhere in the interview, Makinde scored the Tinubu administration 34 per cent, linking the figure to the President’s share of the vote in the 2023 election.
“You need the 67 per cent of Nigerians that were against him in 2023 to be on board,” he said. “This is a massive number.”
Makinde maintained that Tinubu had instead failed to build the inclusive government he believed was promised before the 2023 election.
The Oyo governor said his support for Tinubu at the time was based not on ethnicity but on an understanding that the incoming administration would establish a government of national unity.
He said there was a written agreement underpinning that understanding and accused Tinubu of failing to honour it.
Makinde nevertheless insisted that his present challenge to the President was bigger than their political relationship.
His ambition, he said, was to “reset” Nigeria across the economy, security, education and political system, arguing that the country’s problems were interconnected and could not be solved through isolated policy interventions.
He criticised what he described as a lack of coordination and accountability at the federal level, saying those were two critical weaknesses of the Tinubu administration.
Makinde also questioned the government’s priorities in infrastructure development, arguing that major projects should be properly sequenced to stimulate production and economic activity rather than merely deliver politically attractive infrastructure.
Drawing on his experience governing Oyo State, he said national economic decisions could undermine even well-designed policies at the subnational level.
“No matter how you design your economy at the state level, when they do stupid things at the federal level, you will not succeed,” Makinde said.
He cited the sharp increase in Oyo’s wage bill and infrastructure costs as examples of how inflation, currency depreciation and other national economic conditions had affected state finances despite increased federal allocations.
Makinde said the same concerns informed his criticism of petroleum pricing, electricity supply and the Federal Government’s broader economic management.
The governor maintained that the coming presidential election should therefore be about the material condition of Nigerians rather than personalities, ethnicity or political parties.
He also rejected the argument that Tinubu should automatically receive another term because of an informal rotational understanding that could entitle the South-West to eight years in the presidency.
Makinde, himself from the South-West, argued that ethnic considerations should not override an assessment of whether the country was working.
He said his campaign was directed at Nigerians across the country and not merely voters in his geopolitical zone.
“Give me the opportunity to reset this country,” Makinde said.
He has also described the coming election as a contest between the ruling APC and Nigerians dissatisfied with the direction of the country, while expressing confidence that opposition forces could overcome the ruling party.
“I will win this election,” Makinde declared.
Demola Ojo
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