TELEGRAPH
…Says ‘I’m old enough to push my agenda’
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has said there is no need of speculating about his 2027 presidential ambition, assuring that he will speak when the time comes.
Makinde who was reacting to online report that he has declared to contest the next presidential election, said he is old enough, “If I want to do something, I will come out and say, this is what I want to do.”
The governor who was speaking at the end of the retreat organised by journalists reporting the activities of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, however advised Nigerians to resist any attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
“No speculation, nobody can push my agenda. I will push my agenda when the time comes,” he assured.
According to him, talents and intellects abound in Nigeria, but warned that allowing the country to slide into one-party state will deny other people the opportunity to showcase what is possible in Nigeria.
“So, you as opinion molders, as people that will let the world know that this is where we are going, one takeaway from this engagement is that Nigeria must not slide into a one-party state,” he advised.
The governor recalled that before he was elected in 2019, all the six states in the South West was controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“But Oyo State said, no, we dare to be different. And because I didn’t have no experience, I wanted to convince the people,” he stated.
Makinde disclosed that what he did to convince the people was to produce a document, a roadmap to accelerate development of Oyo State 2019 to 2023.
“And I said to the people, look, this is in black and white, hold me accountable to this,” he recalled, adding that he saw it as a lifetime opportunity to change the narrative.
“Oyo people took a decision. In 2019 we did not have godfather. Nobody sponsored me. Nobody gave a dime for us to get in there. But the people of Oyo state decided that they want to give this opportunity to an outsider.
“Before that time, you people say Seyi, what has he done before? Has he been a counselor? No. Has he been to the state House of Assembly? No. Has he been to House of Reps? No. How about Senate? I tried twice. I was rejected.
“No experience in politics, no experience in governance, but I have done well for myself in business,” he said.
He listed a number of projects he has executed in about five and half years, and regretted that South West, which built the first skyscraper, south of Sahara was not able to build a second one since then.
“If you go to Israel, Tel Aviv, I saw their first skyscraper. It was built six years after Cocoa House.
“But, if you go around Tel Aviv today, they have almost 2,000 other skyscrapers in there. And we have not even built a second one.
“So, it’s just an opportunity to show you that a long time ago, thinkers passed through this place.
