Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde has dropped his support for President Bola Tinubu and says he will challenge him in the 2027 presidential election.
In a long statement posted on his Reset Nigeria campaign platform on Thursday, he said he no longer believes the Tinubu administration is moving the country in the right direction.
After three years, he said, that has not happened.
He said his decision is about the country’s future and young people’s chances of a decent life, not a personal fight.
Makinde also recalled his own background.
His father was a teacher who later became an accountant, and his mother was a civil service telephone operator.
He set up his own engineering firm at 29.
Makinde said that he entered politics after realising that charity could only help a few people.
He lost Senate and governorship races between 2007 and 2015, before winning the Oyo governorship in 2019.
Seyi also stated that he had no godfather in politics.
These are an economy that is stable on paper but not producing jobs or better incomes, a habit of blaming problems it inherited instead of showing clear progress, alliances built around political goals rather than national interest, and economic reforms that lacked protection for ordinary people.
On the removal of the petrol subsidy, Makinde said he supports reform but argues it should have been prepared for properly.
He pointed to Oyo’s response within 11 days of the announcement, which included extra buses, unchanged fares, half price travel for students and senior citizens, and a relief programme called SAfER launched in August 2023.
He said the programme provided food to 200,000 households and loans and farm inputs to small businesses and farmers.
He released a Reset Nigeria Agenda setting out planned actions and expected results.
He urged Nigerians who are tired of elections to still vote in 2027, and asked them not to give up on the country.