2027: APM has strategy to defeat Tinubu – Party chieftain

Chieftain of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, Oluwaseun Adelore, has insisted that the party has a strategy to defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections, saying that, unlike Tinubu, Seyi Makinde is a sellable brand.

Governor Makinde of Oyo State is the presidential candidate of the APM for the forthcoming election.

Adelore, therefore, urged opposition parties to come together and put Makinde forward if they are sincere about rescuing the country from despair, poverty, rising maternal mortality and the practice of reeling out figures without any meaningful value.

He spoke on The Morning Show, an Arise TV programme, Wednesday.

He said, “I see the 2027 general election not as a sprint. I see it as a marathon race. October will start tomorrow. We still have October; we have November. They (opposition parties) can still come together and make headway.

“If indeed they are sincere about rescuing Nigeria from this pit of despair, poverty, wailing, mortality on the high rise, reeling out figures without any meaningful values, without any meaningful achievements, I think it’s the way to go. If they can come together truly and put somebody like Seyi Makinde forward, we are good to go. Before former President Goodluck Jonathan was removed, some groups of people sacrificed. Now, that is history.”

On whether Makinde could transform the country within four years, he said, “A journey of a thousand years starts with a step, and a very good step in the right direction for that matter. It is possible because we are standing on a cliff in Nigeria.

“There is a single thing that affects all of us. That is PMS. But when the news of corruption in this area broke in 2011, now the people that are found wanting in this corruption, we tell Nigeria that they have vessels on the sea, on the high sea, and their paper will be signed that it’s not us. Some people were the ones that were eating the fruits.

“But the bad effect of it on the tooth is giving everybody a toothache. And that is the problem we have. If the people that are saddled with the responsibility of taking Nigeria to Eldorado are not doing their work, why must we be the ones to pay for their imbecility and their docility in office?

“Now, if you are accusing people, why can’t it be sanitised? There is no country in the world that doesn’t have anything being subsidised for the people on the street. No single one, not the United States, not Russia, not anywhere.

“As at the time we were with him in 2017, people were talking about him as somebody that has not been a councillor. How can he be a governor? You are wasting your time. But what we saw in him at that time, he lived up to those expectations.

“He has proven over time that he’s going to be a very passionate leader. He’s extremely passionate about people’s lives around him. The people he’s governing in the state know he’s very passionate.

“He does not even care to step on the toes of those who are close to him to do the right thing. That’s the kind of leader Nigeria deserves at this defining moment. We are talking about an outgoing governor, you understand, that has been in power for, like, seven years. We have the strategy. We have done it before.

“When he was looked down upon, when he was underrated, that’s somebody that has never been a councillor. And he became a governor in their lifetime. It can happen again; it will be replicated. If you have a plan that is sellable, it should be like a fire in the harmattan. It’s just to take this good news.”