A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dayo Adeyeye, says the presidential ambition of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State will not diminish the massive support President Bola Tinubu enjoys in the South-West ahead of the 2027 general election.

Mr Adeyeye, national chairman of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), stated this in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Lagos.

He was reacting to Mr Makinde’s official declaration to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against Mr Tinubu.

According to Mr Adeyeye, Mr Makinde’s entry into the race poses no threat to Mr Tinubu’s political dominance and popularity in the region.

“It is within his (Makinde’s) constitutional rights to do that, but I doubt if it will have any impact at all on the massive support Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has garnered in the region.

“The president is fully entrenched and his support has grown greatly because of many good things he has brought to the region.

“We cannot continue to list them, including appointments of key South-West people into many important positions.

“The Southwest has never had it this good since the advent of democracy,” Mr Adeyeye said.

The APC stalwart said Mr Tinubu’s growing acceptance across the region had already positioned him strongly for re-election.

According to him, Mr Makinde’s ambition remains “immaterial and inconsequential” to the president’s electoral strength in the South-West.

After highlighting ongoing infrastructural projects and federal appointments under the Mr Tinubu administration, Mr Adeyeye maintained that every state in the region had benefited from the current government.

“No state will say it has not benefited.

“We are not perturbed at all by Makinde’s ambition. What we know is that it cannot affect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu at all.

“This cannot take anything away from Tinubu’s votes and huge support. It will not affect us in any way,” he said. 

(NAN)