The Senator Sharafadeen Alli Campaign Organisation has described Governor Seyi Makinde’s presidential ambition under the banner of the Allied People’s Movement as “dead on arrival.”

The campaign team premised its position on Monday’s commendation of President Bola Tinubu by Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, which it said has further exposed the “emptiness of the governor’s presidential project.”

Alli is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State.

Mohammed had on Monday said the economic reforms and strides of the Tinubu administration in security, health and finance had made huge impacts in his state and beyond.

The Bauchi governor spoke when he received Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, who were in Bauchi to inaugurate a radiodiagnostic centre at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital.

According to the Director, Media and Publicity for the Alli Campaign Organisation, Bisi Oladele, in a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed’s latest acknowledgement of Tinubu’s performance raised legitimate political questions about the cohesion, conviction and sustainability of the so-called coalition behind Makinde.

The campaign team said the public acknowledgement by Mohammed, who is the APM national leader, already nullified Makinde’s presidential push.

The statement read, “The question Nigerians should now ask is simple: if one of the principal promoters of Makinde’s presidential ambition truthfully admits that President Tinubu is doing well, what exactly is the justification for Makinde asking Nigerians to replace the President?

“The contradiction is glaring. Governor Mohammed deserves commendation for having the courage to acknowledge the truth rather than engaging in opposition for opposition’s sake.

“For Governor Makinde, however, the political message could not be clearer. His presidential campaign is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions before the real contest has even begun.”

The Alli team said the Bauchi governor only confirmed the position of many Nigerians that the reforms of the Tinubu administration were yielding results, particularly “strengthening the fiscal position of states and enabling governments at the subnational level to undertake development projects.”

The campaign team said Mohammed’s admission further showed that Makinde was not serious about a presidential ambition but only launched a presidential bid to have a political bargaining possibility in the 2027 election.

“We have always maintained that Makinde’s so-called presidential ambition appears less like a serious pathway to Aso Rock and more like a political bargaining chip designed to enhance his negotiating position in the unfolding 2027 political equation,” the statement read.

The team maintained that Makinde’s ambition was already failing if he can’t rally a united APM front behind his presidential bid.

The statement further read, “Makinde may continue to erect billboards, commission campaign offices and make grandiose declarations about ‘resetting’ Nigeria, but politics is ultimately about structures, numbers, credibility and alliances.

“A presidential candidate whose own political allies are validating the achievements of the incumbent has a serious credibility problem.

“How does a candidate seriously expect Nigerians to believe he can defeat an incumbent president when prominent leaders within his own political family are publicly applauding that President’s performance?”

The Alli Campaign Organisation urged Makinde to rather concentrate on accounting for his stewardship in Oyo State and preparing for the transition of power in 2027 rather than using an “improbable” presidential project to distract the people from the issues facing his administration.

The statement added, “Governor Makinde is free to aspire to the highest office in the land. That is his constitutional right. But he should not mistake ambition for viability, publicity for popularity or political bargaining for a genuine national movement.

“The people of Oyo State are more interested in his legacy — the state’s debt profile, the condition of the local economy, infrastructure, education, healthcare and the welfare of workers — than in a presidential adventure whose political foundations are already crumbling.”