The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday urged Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde to focus on governance, stating that his fixation on a 2027 presidential ambition would not benefit his people.
The ruling party also cautioned that his continued criticism of the APC could be counterproductive for him and his supporters.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka said: “While our democracy affords Makinde the liberty to pursue his political aspirations, engaging in reckless executive flippancy at the expense of the role he was elected to fulfil as Governor is a disservice to the good people of Oyo State.
“If Makinde knew how to keep APC’s influence at bay, then why has he not employed that strategy to ‘protect’ his party nationally? Like the proverbial bad workman who blames his tools, Makinde and his co-confused PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) leaders should quit pointing fingers at the APC and take full responsibility for their disgraceful failure to manage the party’s implosion and decay”.
Morka’s comments came in response to Makinde’s remarks on Saturday that the 2027 election would be a contest between the ruling APC and Nigerians.
Makinde made the statement during the commissioning of the Late Olusoji Adagunodo zonal secretariat of the PDP in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The governor added that only he could set the agenda for his political career.
Morka described Makinde’s comments as reckless and unbecoming of a leader whose party is gradually fading into irrelevance.
“Makinde’s unhinged 2027 ambition cannot rest on baseless and unwarranted attacks against our great party or the administration of President Bola Tinubu, which has launched the boldest and most ambitious reform effort in history to transform our country’s economy and lay a solid foundation for progress.
“Governor Makinde has failed to prove himself as an effective leader. His lacklustre performance as governor speaks for itself and undermines his credibility. Instead of prioritising the needs of the Oyo people who elected him to address their local issues, he has chosen to divert his attention and squander the state’s resources in pursuit of an unrestrained 2027 ambition.
“Makinde cannot even represent the future electoral choices of the people of Oyo, let alone speak for Nigerians. Makinde and his partisan allies are simply alarmed that the transformative potential of Tinubu’s economic policies could consign their 2027 ambitions and calculations to the dustbin of political irrelevance”, he further said.
