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The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has accused President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly working to frustrate opposition unity ahead of the 2027 general elections, declaring that Nigeria urgently needs a change of direction.
Makinde made the allegation at the APM Presidential Campaign Organisation’s South-South town hall meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Tuesday where party leaders and presidential hopefuls presented their vision for the country.
“They are doing everything possible to ensure that the opposition does not unite,” he said, urging opposition politicians to recognise what he described as the ruling party’s efforts to weaken their ranks.
The presidential candidate expressed confidence that the South-South would reject the APC in 2027 and support the APM, citing the ruling party’s performance in the region during the 2023 elections.
“They will vote for the APM in the next election,” he declared, promising economic reforms, improved security and support for entrepreneurs under his proposed reset agenda.
Makinde also faulted the Federal Government over what he described as a lack of transparency in the sharing of Nigeria LNG dividends among the three tiers of government.
However, he did not provide specific evidence to substantiate his allegation that Tinubu and the APC were working to prevent opposition parties from uniting.
The APM’s vice-presidential candidate, Lawal Daura, said the party was determined to end Nigeria’s prolonged stagnation and restore citizens’ dignity through policies focused on education, economic development, security and improved living conditions.
He described the mission as “serious business,” insisting that Nigerians deserved a better standard of living rather than continued poverty and unfulfilled promises.
Daura said the country must break what he called a cycle of “motion without movement,” stressing that meaningful progress required a departure from policies that had failed to deliver prosperity. He described the APM as a platform committed to justice, honesty and patriotism, declaring that its guiding principle was “Nigeria first.”
“There is no deceit. There are no lies, and there is nothing other than the truth,” he said, urging Nigerians to support a political alternative focused on national development rather than personal interests.
He also recalled Nigeria’s stronger economic standing in the past, citing 1971 as an example of how far the country had fallen from its former position.
Similarly, the National Chairman of the party, Yusuf Dantelle, declared that Nigeria was no longer working and required an urgent reset to address insecurity, poverty, inequality and the country’s declining international reputation.
“Why do you reset something? You reset something that is not working. Nigeria is not working. We can’t continue to do the same thing and expect different results,” Dantelle said, arguing that governance must be redirected towards building a country where citizens could live with dignity and take pride in their nationality.
He lamented that Nigerians increasingly faced hostility in countries Nigeria had previously supported in their struggles for independence and development.
Dantelle also identified kidnapping and other security threats as major obstacles to daily life, saying many citizens could no longer travel, visit markets or go to their farms without fear.
He attributed such crimes partly to deeper problems, including “inequality, poverty, squalor and hopelessness.”
Also speaking at the event, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, urged Nigerians, particularly youths and women, to make informed choices ahead of the 2027 elections, insisting that leadership should be determined by competence, experience and capacity to deliver rather than wealth or age.
“It is not about money. It is not about age. It is not about anything. It is about pedigree,” Mohammed said, adding that the candidates were at the gathering to present their programmes, not to buy votes.
Governor Mohammed, who is the national leader of the APM, described the reception in Akwa Ibom as a sign of the region’s readiness to embrace a new political direction.
He called for inclusive governance anchored on concrete plans, stakeholder engagement and public participation, saying credible leadership was essential to rebuilding the country.
The party chieftains urged Nigerians to embrace the reset agenda as a pathway to improved security, economic recovery, social justice and national renewal ahead of the 2027 polls.
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