Makinde meets Tinubu, says no plan to join APC

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Thursday, met with President Bola Tinubu, to discuss issues of governance.

Governor Makinde, rumoured to be eyeing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential ticket in 2027, while fielding questions from the State House Journalists after meeting with the President, said he is comfortable with the PDP and therefore has no plans to dump the party.

Recall that Makinde who is serving his second tenure as the PDP Governor in Oyo State, is one the four governors elected on the party’s platform that still fly the party’s flag.

While other governors elected on the party’s platform detected to the ruling APC, only the governors of Oyo, Adamawa, Bauchi and Zamfara continue with the party, despite the pressures to join their colleagues in the APC.

Read also: Seyi Makinde says cross-border bandits responsible for Oyo park attack

BusinessDay reports that Governor Makinde was accompanied to the Presidential Villa by Caleb Muftwang of Plateau, who also recently defected to the ruling party.

When asked whether he also planned to dump the PDP, he said , “No. I’m comfortable in the PDP, and again, we may have issues in this country where you need bipartisan approach, where it won’t be an issue of maybe APC talking alone or PDP talking alone, where we will have to look at what is the best foot forward in the interest of our nation. So when you get to that junction, you need everybody on board.

“What you have is the President of Nigeria, not the President of APC and we’re talking about governance here. So I came to discuss with the President on some governance issues, basically.”

Makinde also insisted that he is enjoying a harmonious relationship with the President Tinubu, adding that “There’s nothing that I’ve said in the past that says we’re not enjoying harmonious relationship.

“You know, politics is politics. We belong to different political parties, but Nigeria is a project that all Nigerians must be concerned about; welfare of our people, what are the governance issues, this issue of insecurity, poverty alleviation.

“I mean, they’re things that have no coloration of a party, as leaders, whether president or governor of the state, those are things that we have to work together, consult with one another, and ensure that we can make life better for our people.”

The governor, who was instrumental to the successful completion of the party’s National Convention at Ibadan, however did not state if continued closure of Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the party in Abuja and the ongoing impasse in the PDP, as well as the roles being played by Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister were discussed at the meeting.

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