The Allied People’s Movement (APM) presidential candidate and Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, on Monday stated that Nigeria’s crude oil must provide real and measurable benefits to Nigerians.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Office in Abuja, Governor Makinde called for complete transparency across the petroleum value chain — from production and domestic crude allocation to refining, transportation, distribution, taxes, and retail margins.
He said: “If a community grows food, the people of that community should not have to buy that food as though it travelled halfway around the world before reaching them. So, why should crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries be priced as though Nigeria does not produce crude oil?”
Emphasizing that Nigerians must benefit directly from their crude resources, Makinde added: “That benefit should be built into the system from the beginning, through the price at which crude oil is supplied for domestic refining — not through an opaque intervention at the petrol pump after all the costs, inefficiencies and distortions have been added.”
He explained that the Reset Nigeria agenda is fundamentally about ending opaque systems and restoring public trust: “Government must show its workings. Nigerians must be able to see how decisions are made and how national resources are managed.”
Inviting Nigerians to join the Reset Nigeria movement, Makinde said: “Reset Nigeria cannot be a conversation among politicians alone. It must become a conversation in our homes, markets, schools, offices, farms, factories and communities.
“We want to hear from the trader who struggles whenever transport costs rise. We want to hear from the farmer who cannot afford to move produce to the market. We want to hear from the business owner whose costs rise every time the price of fuel changes.
“We want to hear from the young Nigerian who is working hard but can no longer see a clear path to a better life. This office belongs to that conversation. Its doors are open to Nigerians who believe that our country can work better than it does today. So, I invite you: join the Reset Nigeria conversation.”
Earlier, the National Leader of APM and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, strongly endorsed Makinde’s economic clarity and leadership capacity. He declared: “Whoever disregards us is at his own peril. We are here to Reset Nigeria and we are bringing in one of the best human capitals this country has produced — that is Makinde.”
Mohammed praised Makinde’s record in Oyo State, describing him as: “A mobilizer, a manager of resources, an engineer par excellence… Somebody who used little resources and did so much.”
He noted that the Abuja campaign office, solely provided by Makinde, demonstrates seriousness and readiness for the national task ahead.
APM National Chairman, Dr. Yusuf Dantalle, reiterated that the Reset Nigeria project is about rescuing a nation that has drifted, saying the movement is building a platform where competence, not ethnicity or religion, defines leadership.
Dantalle said the large turnout at the event reflected Nigerians’ desire for a new political direction. He described the campaign headquarters as the “engine room” of the party’s victory in the 2027 elections, adding that the APM has fielded credible candidates across the country.
He stated that the Makinde/Daura ticket offers Nigerians hope for improved governance, national security, economic prosperity, and socio-religious harmony. “Rest assured that Makinde will be President to all Nigerians as he has ably demonstrated as Governor of Oyo State,” he said.
He added: “With a competent vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura, who once headed a critical security service in the country, insecurity will be tackled head-on.”
Dantalle pledged that the APM would run an issue-based campaign focused on practical solutions, competence, and the future of the country, rather than politics of bitterness, division, and hatred. “This is our chance to build a strong, stable, united, prosperous, inclusive and just democratic society,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Mr. Peter Obi, said Governor Makinde is qualified to be the president of Nigeria. He noted that attending the event demonstrated that belonging to different parties does not make politicians enemies, adding that opposition parties would work together to birth a new Nigeria.
Similarly, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Aliyu Babangida, called on opposition parties to collaborate to rescue the country. He stated that opposition parties were working towards supporting a single candidate, adding that they would zero in on a candidate from Southern Nigeria since the North had already done eight years.
The event was attended by Alhaji Lawal Daura, Vice-Presidential candidate of APM; Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Governor of Osun State; national and state legislators; members of the APM Board of Trustees (BoT); members of the APM National Working Committee (NWC); and party faithful, among other dignitaries.
