A chieftain of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in the South-West, Chief Sanya Atofarati, has described Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, as a politician whose record in office has demonstrated the qualities he believes Nigeria needs in its next president.
Chief Sanya Atofarati, who spoke in an interview on Adamimogo 105.1FM, FIRST TAKE said his support for Makinde was largely informed by what he described as the governor’s record of governance, integrity and commitment to delivering democratic dividends in Oyo State.
Makinde, who has declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the APM platform, has entered into an alliance with a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party amid continuing disputes within the opposition party. The PDP/APM alliance was formalised in Ibadan in May, with the parties saying the arrangement would allow them to field candidates across various levels of government.
Chief Atofarati said Makinde’s growing national profile was a reflection of what he considered to be his performance as governor.
“Decency” in political leadership, he explained, should not merely be understood as personal character but also in terms of a politician’s ability to deliver what democracy promises citizens.
According to him, Makinde’s record in Oyo State provides the basis for his confidence in the governor’s presidential aspiration.
He said, “You can’t get better leadership than what we have in Governor Seyi Makinde. I have had a six-year relationship with him, a personal relationship, and I can attest to the fact that the best Nigeria can ever get at this very point in time is Seyi Makinde.
“He is decent, he is sincere, he is a man of integrity, and he will stand by his word any time, any day.”
Chief Atofarati, who was previously associated with the PDP, rejected the suggestion that he was simply moving between political parties.
He said his involvement with the APM was a product of the political arrangement between sections of the PDP and the APM, rather than an attempt to abandon one party for another.
He said the alliance became necessary because of the internal crisis that has continued to affect the PDP and what he described as attempts by some individuals to weaken the country’s largest opposition party.
“The reason why that agreement came into place was because of the internal crisis that has been rocking the People’s Democratic Party,” he said.
According to Chief Atofarati, a functioning democracy requires a strong opposition capable of providing checks and balances against the governing party.
He argued that the internal disputes within the PDP had created a situation in which, in his view, the opposition party was struggling to perform that constitutional and political role effectively.
“The role of opposition is to serve as check and balance for the ruling government. But in a situation whereby some few elements within the party believe that they can manipulate the interests of the party to their own personal selfish interests, that is not the best,” he said.
Chief Atofarati said the faction of the PDP aligned with the APM believes it is acting to preserve a multiparty political system ahead of the 2027 elections.
His comments are consistent with the position previously stated by PDP/APM representatives that the alliance was designed to provide an alternative platform amid the legal and internal challenges confronting the PDP.
Asked whether the PDP had now become effectively factionalised, Atofarati maintained that the group with which he is aligned considers the Kabiru Turaki-led structure to be the legitimate structure of the party.
He said that structure was the one that entered into the alliance with the APM.
The claim, however, remains politically contested. The PDP’s internal leadership dispute has generated rival positions over which faction has legitimate control of the party, with different political actors publicly advancing competing interpretations of the party’s legal and organisational status.
Chief Atofarati argued that the crisis had left the PDP in a difficult position ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He questioned the circumstances surrounding the recognition of the party’s presidential candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission, arguing that the development was inconsistent with what his faction believes to be the effect of relevant court decisions.
He also criticised what he described as an unusual political situation in which a presidential candidate associated with the PDP was, according to him, publicly supporting another political platform.
“Since the birth of the PDP in 1998, I’ve never witnessed a situation like this before,” he said.
For Chief Atofarati, the central argument for Makinde is not simply the governor’s political structure but what he considers his record in Oyo State.
He pointed to Makinde’s two-term administration and the governor’s stated development agenda, arguing that the experience could provide a basis for his presidential campaign.
