THE presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) and Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday announced former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
News Point Nigeria reports that Makinde announced Daura as his vice-presidential candidate at the APM elective national convention held at the Rilwanu Adamu Square, Government House, Bauchi.
Daura replaces Ibrahim Bala, who was earlier announced as Makinde’s running mate but was intended to serve as a placeholder.
The former DSS Director-General joined the APM only a few days ago after resigning from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), following his failure to secure the party’s Katsina State governorship ticket.
Speaking on his choice of Daura, Makinde disclosed that the former security chief was deliberately selected to help address and solve Nigeria’s security challenges.
At the convention, Yusuf Dantalle was re-elected as the National Chairman of the APM.
Speaking at the convention, Makinde declared that the task before the opposition ahead of the 2027 general election was bigger than merely winning power.
He said the central challenge was to give Nigerians a genuine choice about the future of the country and demonstrate, with measurable plans and records, how an alternative government would improve their lives.
“As we approach 2027, therefore, I believe the task before all of us is bigger than winning an election. It is to give Nigerians a real choice about the future of their country,” Makinde said.
Congratulating the new national officers elected at the convention, Makinde said the APM had, within a short period, emerged as an opposition party to reckon with.
He urged the new leadership of the party to work with other opposition political parties towards presenting a credible alternative to Nigerians in 2027, stressing that a viable opposition remained indispensable to the survival of democracy.
“As I said during the Ibadan Declaration in April this year, the presence of credible opposition is what sustains democracy.
“So, our new leaders must be ready to work with other opposition parties to ensure that we give Nigerians a credible alternative in the 2027 general election,” he said.
Makinde said the coming campaign season would inevitably feature political slogans, promises and declarations by candidates but argued that Nigerians should demand more from those seeking to lead them.
According to him, the 2027 election should be about measurable outcomes rather than government announcements, policies and promises that do not translate into improvements in the lives of citizens.
“The 2027 election must be an election about outcomes. For too long, we have measured governance by announcements. We are presented with policy after policy, rather than evidence of whether those policies have made people’s lives better,” he said.
Using the experiences of ordinary Nigerians to illustrate his point, Makinde said economic policies should ultimately be measured by citizens’ purchasing power rather than official statistics.
“When our mothers go to the market, they don’t experience economic policy as a statistic. They experience it in what their money can buy. How much rice, beans and gari they can take home,” he said.
He added that young Nigerians would judge employment policies by their ability to secure productive work and build independent lives, just as farmers would assess agricultural policies by their productivity, access to markets and whether farming had improved their economic condition.
On security, Makinde said the effectiveness of government should not be determined by the number of security meetings held by officials but by whether Nigerians could live and pursue their livelihoods without fear.
“Families do not judge security by the number of meetings government has held. They judge it by whether they can travel, farm, work and sleep with their two eyes closed,” he said.
The APM presidential candidate said the defining question of the 2027 election should therefore shift from what government claimed to have done to what had actually changed in the lives of Nigerians.
“The question before Nigeria in 2027 should not simply be: What has government done? It should be: What has changed for Nigerians?” he said.
He added that opposition candidates must equally subject themselves to scrutiny by explaining what they would do differently and the measurable improvements Nigerians should expect if they were elected.
Makinde said his administration had applied the same principle in Oyo State by focusing not merely on projects announced by government but on their impact on the people.
He identified poverty reduction, job creation, education, healthcare and security as some of the major issues that should dominate the 2027 political conversation.
“We must talk about an economy that moves over 140 million Nigerians currently living in poverty towards prosperity.
“We must talk about creating productive jobs and opportunities for our young people in a country where over 60 per cent of the population is young.
“We must talk about education that prepares our children for the economy they will inherit. Healthcare that people can access. And security that protects Nigerians wherever they live,” he said.
Makinde also called for a restructuring of the Nigerian federation to bring more powers, decisions and resources closer to the people.
According to him, the country could not realise its full potential under an arrangement in which decisions that ought to be taken at state and local levels had to wait for Abuja.
“Nigeria cannot achieve its full potential when decisions that should be taken in Osun, Kano, Cross River or Enugu must first wait for Abuja.
“We need a federation in which more decisions and resources are brought closer to the people, accompanied by greater accountability for results,” he said.
The governor also identified the erosion of trust between citizens and their leaders as a major challenge confronting the country’s democracy, saying Nigerians must be able to believe that commitments made by political leaders mean something.
He advocated a different political culture in which disagreements would not turn political opponents into enemies and opposition would go beyond the desire to remove incumbents from office.
“A politics where disagreement does not make us enemies. A politics where opposition is not merely about removing those in power, but about presenting a credible and demonstrably better alternative.
“And a politics where parties that may not agree on everything can nevertheless agree that Nigeria must work better for its people,” Makinde said.
He challenged candidates seeking Nigerians’ votes in 2027 to submit their records and proposals to public scrutiny and make the election a contest of ideas and measurable plans.
“Let the coming campaign be a contest of ideas. Let us debate the evidence. Let us compare records. Let us present measurable plans.
“And above all, let every one of us who seeks the trust of Nigerians answer one simple question: How will the lives of Nigerians be better because you were given the opportunity to lead?” he said.
Makinde maintained that making that question the defining issue of the 2027 election would strengthen the country’s democracy irrespective of the political platforms on which the candidates contest.
In his remarks, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, who was inaugurated as the National Leader of the party, expressed confidence in the Makinde-Daura presidential ticket.
Mohammed described Makinde as the best presidential candidate for Nigeria and expressed optimism that the party would provide an all-inclusive government if elected.
He said the recognition given to him as National Leader came with enormous responsibility, promising that the party’s leadership would not disappoint its members and supporters.
“The recognition you have given us is going to give us a lot of challenges. It is for us to do more for you. By the grace of God, we will not disappoint you,” Mohammed said.
He added that Makinde’s engineering background would be an advantage in addressing the country’s development challenges, while the party’s administrators would support his leadership.
“We are putting square pegs in square holes. Our presidential candidate is an engineer by profession. He knows how to manufacture, develop and draw a plan, and we as administrators are behind him,” he said.
Mohammed also promised that the APM would work towards accommodating Nigerians across different backgrounds and provide inclusive leadership.
Speaking after his re-election, Dantalle said Nigeria had the resources and potential to become a prosperous nation but had been hindered by leadership challenges.
He called on Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones and ethnic and religious divides to identify with the APM and support its ambition of building a stronger and more prosperous country.
“We have everything we need. Nigerians are not supposed to be slaves in their own country. God has given this country the greatness that we require.
“We call on all Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones, across ethnic, religious and cultural divides, to identify with the Allied People’s Movement because our party is committed to building a stronger, more prosperous and more united Nigeria,” he said.
Dantalle said the APM was determined to emerge as a formidable national political movement capable of producing leaders Nigerians could trust.
He urged members and supporters of the party to take its message of hope, unity, development and democratic renewal to every local government, state and community.
“Let us take our message of hope, unity, development and democratic renewal to everyone, every local government, state and community.
“That is what I earlier referred to as ‘Operation Talk to Somebody, Talk to Somebody, Talk to Somebody’ until somebody gets to know that APM is a party to take you,” he said.
The National Chairman expressed confidence that the party would succeed in the 2027 elections, saying its unity of purpose, clear vision and commitment to Nigerians would position it for victory.