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The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has mocked Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s campaign organisation over its prediction that the governor would defeat President Bola Tinubu in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory in the January 2027 presidential election.
The APC described the prediction as an expression of political ambition without sufficient evidence of electoral strength, insisting that participation in an election does not guarantee victory, while urging Makinde to stop counting imaginary victories.
The reaction followed a statement by the Seyi Makinde Campaign Organisation, which declared that its presidential candidate, contesting on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), would defeat Tinubu in the 12 states identified as battlegrounds for the President’s proposed campaign visits, as well as other parts of the country.
In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the campaign organisation listed Oyo, Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos as states where it expected Makinde to defeat Tinubu.
The organisation attributed the President’s alleged declining electoral prospects to economic hardship and what it described as his administration’s failure to address Nigeria’s challenges.
However, it did not provide polling data or other evidence to support its prediction.
Responding in a statement on Sunday, the Lagos APC spokesman, Seye Oladejo, said Makinde and his campaign team appeared to have mistaken the opportunity to participate in an election for a guarantee of victory.
“Governor Makinde and his campaign team appear to have mistaken the privilege of participating in an election for the guarantee of victory,” Oladejo said.
“We advise Governor Makinde to spend less time counting imaginary victories in 12 states and more time examining the political turbulence around him.”
Using an Olympic analogy, he added that participation was celebrated in sports, but no athlete earned a gold medal merely by appearing at the starting line.
Oladejo questioned the campaign organisation’s national political structure, the depth of its support beyond Oyo State and its ability to build a coalition capable of challenging the incumbent president.
He said the 2027 presidential election would require national reach, organisational strength, credible political structures and the ability to mobilise voters across the country.
“These are questions that cannot be answered by press statements, campaign slogans or inflated projections,” he said.
The APC spokesman also pointed to what he described as political crises and persistent disagreements within Makinde’s political camp in Oyo State, arguing that the governor should focus on consolidating his political base before making projections about winning states across the federation.
He said political alliances depended on trust, shared interests, strategic discipline and a common vision, adding that disagreements with former allies raised questions about the durability of a broader coalition.
Oladejo further argued that presidential elections could not be won through what he described as convenient assumptions or the mere listing of states on a campaign itinerary.
He maintained that Tinubu had decades of political experience, an established national network and a record of coalition-building that the opposition could not dismiss.
The APC spokesman also cited the administration’s Renewed Hope agenda, saying the party would engage voters on economic reforms, national development, infrastructure renewal and institutional strengthening.
He challenged Makinde’s campaign organisation to explain why Nigerians should entrust it with the responsibility of governing the country rather than merely announcing the states it intended to win.
“Makinde’s declaration, therefore, sounds less like a carefully reasoned electoral forecast and more like an attempt to manufacture momentum through headline-grabbing bravado,” Oladejo said.
He added that the APC remained confident in Tinubu’s prospects in the 2027 election, urging Makinde to pay more attention to political tensions within his camp than to predicting victories in 12 states.
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