The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) and Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Monday said Nigeria’s crude oil resources must deliver tangible and measurable benefits to citizens.

Makinde spoke at the commissioning of the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Office in Abuja, where he called for greater transparency across the petroleum value chain, covering crude oil production, domestic crude allocation, refining, transportation, distribution, taxation and retail margins.

He questioned the rationale for pricing crude supplied to Nigerian refineries as though the country were an oil-importing nation.

Makinde 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?”

He argued that Nigerians should derive direct benefits from the country’s crude resources through the pricing framework for domestic refining rather than through what he described as opaque interventions at the petrol pump.

“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 said.

The governor said his proposed “Reset Nigeria” agenda was aimed at eliminating opaque systems and rebuilding public confidence in government.

“Government must show its workings. Nigerians must be able to see how decisions are made and how national resources are managed,” he said.

Makinde urged Nigerians to participate in the Reset Nigeria campaign, saying the initiative should extend beyond political actors to communities and ordinary citizens affected by government policies.

He said the movement would listen to traders struggling with rising transport costs, farmers unable to move their produce to markets, business owners affected by fuel price increases and young Nigerians struggling to find economic opportunities.

“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,” he said.

Earlier, the National Leader of the APM and Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, endorsed Makinde’s candidacy, describing him as a competent administrator with a record of resource management in Oyo State.

Mohammed said, “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.”

He described Makinde as “a mobiliser, a manager of resources, an engineer par excellence” who had achieved significant results with limited resources.

The APM National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Dantalle, said the Reset Nigeria project was designed to provide an alternative political direction for the country, with competence rather than ethnicity or religion as the basis for leadership.

Dantalle described the campaign office as the “engine room” of the party’s campaign ahead of the 2027 elections, saying the party had fielded candidates across the country.

He said the Makinde/Daura ticket offered Nigerians an alternative focused on good governance, security, economic development and national unity.

Dantalle also expressed confidence that the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura, would bring relevant security experience to the ticket.

He pledged that the APM would run an issue-based campaign centred on practical solutions, competence and national development rather than “politics of bitterness, division and hatred.”

In his goodwill message, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, said Makinde was qualified to serve as Nigeria’s president.

Obi said his presence at the event demonstrated that political differences should not turn politicians into enemies, adding that opposition parties could work together towards building a better Nigeria.

Also speaking, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Governor of Niger State, Dr Aliyu Babangida, urged opposition parties to collaborate in the interest of the country.

He said opposition parties were working towards supporting a single presidential candidate, adding that the focus would be on a candidate from Southern Nigeria after eight years of northern presidency.

The event was attended by Daura, the APM vice-presidential candidate; former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; national and state legislators; members of the APM Board of Trustees and National Working Committee, as well as party supporters and other dignitaries.
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