APM campaign tells Tinubu to quit 2027 race for younger generation
- The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation said President Tinubu lacks the stamina to lead Nigeria.
- It urged him to step aside for younger candidates like Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde in 2027.
- The campaign also dismissed the Federal Government's monthly N50,000 payment to vulnerable households as vote-buying.
The presidential campaign organisation of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has asked President Bola Tinubu to drop his re-election bid in 2027 and let a younger generation take over.
The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), which is backing Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for president, said the President no longer has the stamina the office demands.
Its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, made the call in Abuja on Sunday, according to Tribune and The Sun.
Ihediwa was reacting to the President's recent foreign trips, including a visit to Mecca for prayers weeks after a vacation in France. He alleged that Tinubu could not withstand the rigours of campaigning and had to travel for prayers after a campaign flag-off in Kaduna last week.
"The Presidency is not a retirement home. It is a very demanding office that requires a lot of stamina," Ihediwa said.
He argued that Nigeria has been "racing backwards" in the last three and a half years under a president he said cannot physically drive governance, and that Tinubu is not in tune with modern technology.
Makinde as the alternative
The campaign said Makinde, its candidate, has the experience, energy and preparedness to work round the clock. It named his running mate as Lawal Daura.
Ihediwa urged Nigerians to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and vote out the President in January 2027 if he does not withdraw.
He also dismissed the Federal Government's monthly N50,000 payment to vulnerable households under the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention, calling it a failed attempt to induce voters.
"Such panic-driven financial measures cannot save President Tinubu and the APC from defeat," he said, pointing to the Osun State governorship election and the Kaduna campaign flag-off as signs that voters are not swayed.
The claims about the President's health and about spending at the Kaduna rally are allegations from a political opponent. The Presidency has not responded in the reports carried by Tribune and The Sun.
What happens next
The race now turns on whether the President stays in and who the parties field. For ordinary Nigerians, the debate matters because the next president will inherit high food prices, fuel costs and a weak naira. The N50,000 household payment, if it continues, would also be paid from public funds.
