Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement, Seyi Makinde, has selected former Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde made the announcement on Thursday at the APM’s elective national convention held at Rilwanu Adamu Square, Government House, Bauchi.
Daura replaces Ibrahim Bala, who had previously been announced as Makinde’s running mate but was reportedly designated as a placeholder pending the selection of a substantive candidate.
The former DSS director-general joined the APM days before the convention after leaving the African Democratic Congress, following his unsuccessful bid for the ADC governorship ticket in Katsina State.
Explaining his choice of Daura, Makinde said the former security chief was deliberately selected because of the need to address Nigeria’s security challenges.
At the convention, Yusuf Dantalle was returned as the national chairman of the APM alongside other newly elected members of the party’s national leadership.
Makinde urges opposition cooperation
Addressing delegates and supporters, Makinde said the opposition’s responsibility ahead of the 2027 election extended beyond simply defeating the ruling party and taking control of government.
He said the opposition must provide Nigerians with a credible alternative and demonstrate, through clear plans and measurable results, how a new administration would improve the lives of citizens.
“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,” he said.
Makinde congratulated the newly elected national officers and said the APM had quickly established itself as a political force within the opposition.
He urged the new leadership to collaborate with other opposition parties in building a credible alternative ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to him, a strong and credible opposition is essential 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,” he said.
The governor said opposition parties should therefore be prepared to work together while maintaining their commitment to offering Nigerians a clear alternative.
‘2027 election must be about results’
Makinde said the next general election should focus on measurable outcomes rather than political slogans, government announcements and promises.
He argued that Nigerians should assess both the incumbent government and opposition candidates based on the tangible impact of their policies.
“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 rising cost of living as an example, Makinde said economic policies should be judged by their effect on ordinary citizens rather than official economic statistics.
He said families experience economic conditions through the purchasing power of their income and what they can afford in the market.
“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 said young Nigerians would similarly judge employment policies by whether they could obtain productive jobs and build independent lives.
Farmers, he added, would measure agricultural policies by improvements in productivity, access to markets and their overall economic wellbeing.
Makinde highlights security, jobs and healthcare
The governor also said security should be evaluated based on whether Nigerians can safely travel, work, farm and conduct their daily activities.
“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.
He argued that the central question in 2027 should not be what governments claim to have achieved but what has 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.
Makinde added that opposition candidates should also be subjected to scrutiny and clearly explain what they intend to do differently if elected.
He identified poverty reduction, job creation, education, healthcare and security as issues that should form the core of the 2027 election debate.
“We must talk about an economy that moves over 140 million Nigerians currently living in poverty towards prosperity,” he said.
He also called for greater investment in productive opportunities for young Nigerians, improved education and accessible healthcare, alongside stronger security across the country.
Governor advocates restructuring
Makinde further called for restructuring of the Nigerian federation, arguing that more powers, resources and decision-making responsibilities should be transferred to state and local governments.
He said Nigeria could not maximise its potential under a system where decisions that could be handled at the subnational level were concentrated in 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,” he said.
According to him, a more decentralised federation should be accompanied by stronger accountability mechanisms to ensure that governments at all levels deliver results.
Makinde also identified declining trust between citizens and political leaders as another major challenge facing Nigeria’s democracy.
He called for a political culture in which campaign commitments are taken seriously and political disagreements do not turn opponents into enemies.
He said opposition politics should go beyond the objective of removing an incumbent and instead focus on presenting Nigerians with credible ideas and practical alternatives for improving governance.
