Akeem Olatunji, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate for Oluyole Federal Constituency in the 2027 general election, has said no opposition coalition or last-minute political alliance will stop what he described as the people’s determination to sustain the development trajectory of Oyo State under Governor Seyi Makinde.
Olatunji stated this while reacting to the mass defection of members of the Boye Nation/JAF Movement from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the APM.
He described the development as further evidence of what he called a growing political realignment ahead of the 2027 elections.
The defection, led by Ajiboye Akande Sangogade, popularly known as Boye Nation and a former aide and loyalist of former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, took place on Monday at the Boye Nation/JAF Movement Mega Concert held at the Open Tennis Court of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan.
Westernmirror.com.ng eports that the movement drew supporters from several local government areas of the state.
According to Olatunji, the development showed that the 2027 contest would ultimately be determined by the electorate and their assessment of governance, rather than political calculations among opposition parties.
He said the election was increasingly becoming a contest between what he described as the people’s interest in continuity of good governance and efforts by opposition forces to dislodge the ruling political structure through alliances.
“2027 is about the people against the APC,and it is a mission all Nigerians across ethnicity and religions have unite to advance.
“No form of opposition coalition can stop the course of good governance that the people have enjoyed in the last over seven years under Governor Seyi Makinde,” Olatunji said.
He argued that while opposition parties were contemplating a last-minute coalition arrangement, the APM was already focused on consolidating its structures and mobilising voters across the state.
“While they are planning for a last-minute coalition, we are planning to officially bury their party because the masses have witnessed the difference between light and darkness,” he said.
Olatunji further alleged that the APC was contemplating a last-minute coalition pact as part of its strategy for the 2027 election, but maintained that the electorate would not easily be persuaded by what he described as political rhetoric.
He said voters who experienced the administration of the APC in Oyo State between 2011 and 2019 had also continued to contend with economic challenges under the party-led Federal Government, arguing that political attacks against Makinde would not, in his assessment, erase the electorate’s experience of governance.
“No amount of political blackmail, rhetoric or attack against Makinde will confuse the masses anymore,” he said.
The APM Reps candidate also called on voters to remain vigilant ahead of the election, alleging that opposition political actors had activated their media machinery to circulate narratives capable of influencing public perception of the administration and its candidates.
He urged the electorate to scrutinise political claims against the administration and compare them with what he described as the government’s record in infrastructure, education, healthcare, workers’ welfare and other areas.
The development comes amid increasing political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections, with the APM attracting politicians and supporters from different political platforms.
The Boye Nation defection is particularly significant because Sangogade has been publicly associated with Adelabu, although he said at the defection event that his decision to join the APM was personal and was not connected to any disagreement with his former principal.
Olatunji commended the electorate for what he described as their “unflinching support” and continued confidence in Makinde’s leadership and the APM governorship candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi.
He said the recent political developments had strengthened his confidence that the APM would remain a major force in the 2027 election not only in the state but at the national level with governor Makinde on the ballot as the party’s presidential candidate, insisting that the opposition’s anticipated “biggest joker” would be a last-minute alliance.
“Their biggest joker would be a last-minute alliance or coalition, and we are ready for them,” Olatunji said.
He went further to make a prediction about the timing of the governorship result, saying: “Adekanbi would have won the 2027 governorship election latest by 2pm.”
