By Seye Oladejo<\/b><\/p>\n
A CASE OF AN ORDINARY OLYMPIAN WHO THINKS THE WORLD OF HIMSELF<\/p>\n
Lagos APC to Makinde: Participation Is Not Victory<\/p>\n
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken note of the rather grandiose declaration by the campaign organisation of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, that it will defeat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 12 states in the 2027 presidential election. While political ambition is a legitimate feature of democracy, there is a wide gulf between ambition and capacity, between wishful thinking and electoral reality, and between making bold pronouncements and possessing the political machinery to deliver on them.<\/p>\n
Governor Makinde and his campaign team appear to have mistaken the privilege of participating in an election for the guarantee of victory. In the Olympics, participation is celebrated, but no athlete earns a gold medal merely for showing up at the starting line. Unfortunately, Makinde seems to have appointed himself a champion before the race has even begun, confusing the opportunity to contest with the capacity to prevail.<\/p>\n
The APC is not opposed to political competition. Indeed, we welcome every legitimate participant in the democratic process. However, the 2027 presidential election is not a theatrical performance in which political actors are rewarded for the loudest declarations, nor is it a numerical exercise in which the mere presence of candidates on the ballot paper translates into electoral relevance. It is a serious contest that demands national reach, organisational depth, credible political structures, persuasive leadership, a compelling record of service and the capacity to mobilise voters across the federation.<\/p>\n
On these fundamental indices, Makinde\u2019s boast about defeating President Tinubu in 12 states raises more questions about the foundations of his confidence than it offers evidence of his electoral strength. Where is the demonstrable national structure? What is the depth of his support beyond his immediate political environment? What coalition of enduring value has he assembled to translate his pronouncements into votes? And what credible evidence supports the suggestion that his political platform possesses the reach to dislodge a sitting President with an established national political network?<\/p>\n
These are questions that cannot be answered by press statements, campaign slogans or inflated projections.<\/p>\n
More troubling for Governor Makinde should be the catalogue of political crises and persistent fallouts within his own political family in Oyo State. The daily unravelling of relationships with erstwhile allies and soulmates ought to inspire sober reflection rather than reckless declarations of national electoral conquest. A politician who has yet to convincingly demonstrate enduring cohesion within his immediate political environment should be cautious about presenting himself as the architect of a nationwide electoral upset.<\/p>\n
Political alliances are built on trust, shared interests, strategic discipline and a common vision. When former partners become adversaries and yesterday\u2019s allies increasingly find themselves on opposite sides of political disputes, the resulting instability raises legitimate questions about leadership, political management and the durability of any wider coalition.<\/p>\n
We would have expected Governor Makinde to devote more attention to consolidating his political base, resolving internal contradictions and addressing the growing strains within his political camp. Instead, his campaign appears more interested in projecting an aura of invincibility that the available political realities have yet to substantiate.<\/p>\n
The APC is also compelled to remind Makinde that Nigeria\u2019s presidential elections are not won through the arithmetic of convenient assumptions. The electorate is national, diverse and discerning. Victory requires more than a collection of state names on a campaign spreadsheet; it requires the hard work of organisation, the credibility of a candidate, a persuasive national agenda and the ability to inspire confidence among voters across geo-political boundaries.<\/p>\n
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu brings to the 2027 contest decades of political experience, a formidable national network, a proven capacity for coalition-building and an established record of political organisation. His political journey has been defined by strategic endurance, institution-building and the ability to build alliances across different constituencies. Those attributes cannot be wished away by a campaign organisation announcing a dozen states as though electoral outcomes were already settled.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the opposition must understand that Nigerians will ultimately judge competing political platforms on their ideas, records, capacity and vision for the country\u2019s future. The Renewed Hope agenda provides a basis for the APC to engage voters on the difficult but necessary work of economic reform, national development, infrastructure renewal and institutional strengthening. The opposition must do more than announce the states it intends to win; it must explain why Nigerians should entrust it with the responsibility of governing the country.<\/p>\n
Makinde\u2019s declaration, therefore, sounds less like a carefully reasoned electoral forecast and more like an attempt to manufacture momentum through headline-grabbing bravado. It is political confidence without sufficiently demonstrated evidence, ambition without a convincing national pathway, and projection without the organisational depth required to make it credible.<\/p>\n
The irony is that a governor presiding over a state with its own share of political tensions should be more concerned about the resilience of his local political relationships than about issuing premature victory certificates for a national contest. The road to Aso Rock is not paved with declarations, and the number of states mentioned at a campaign meeting is not a substitute for the number of votes delivered on election day.<\/p>\n
Governor Makinde is entitled to dream big. But in politics, as in sport, dreams must be backed by preparation, performance and the capacity to finish ahead of the competition. The Olympics may celebrate participation, but the podium belongs to those who actually win. Not every athlete is a medal contender, and not every presidential campaign is a credible threat to the incumbent.<\/p>\n
As far as the 2027 presidential election is concerned, Makinde and his campaign team should resist the temptation to confuse their presence in the contest with the power to determine its outcome. They may well succeed in keeping the ballot paper busy, adding their names to the roll of participants and contributing to the spectacle of political competition. But participation, however enthusiastic, is not a mandate.<\/p>\n
The APC remains confident that President Tinubu will approach the 2027 election with the benefit of experience, an established political network and a record that will be placed before Nigerians for their judgment. We advise Governor Makinde to spend less time counting imaginary victories in 12 states and more time examining the political turbulence around him.<\/p>\n
After all, in the ultimate reckoning of democracy, the electorate awards the medals-not campaign organisations intoxicated by their own declarations.<\/p>\n
Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo
\nLagos APC Spokesman
\n18\/10\/26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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