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| Seyi Makinde |
On Thursday in Ondo State, Oyo State Governor and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate Seyi Makinde did not merely deliver a speech.
He turned a town hall into a physical demonstration of the message he wants to define the 2027 race: energy, stamina, and the capacity to confront Nigeria’s grinding challenges head-on.
In a moment now circulating widely on social media and covered by Channels Television, Makinde jumped down from the stage and issued a direct challenge. “While I will not make age an issue of this campaign, I will make energy an issue. Having energy.
When they bring their own presidential candidate, let their candidate come here and jump down. If they can do it, vote for them.” He expanded on the point: the presidency demands the ability to stay up late, the rigour to tackle the country’s problems, and sustained physical and mental capacity. @dammiedammie35
The optics were deliberate. At 58 (born 25 December 1967), Makinde is no spring chicken, yet the leap was designed to project vitality against the backdrop of Nigeria’s long-running debates about the physical and cognitive demands of high office. It subtly referenced the age and fitness questions that have dogged previous presidents and remain relevant as the country heads toward another election cycle under President Bola Tinubu.
From engineer and businessman to governor and national contender
Makinde’s path to this stage is well documented. An electrical engineer trained at the University of Lagos with specialist experience in fluid and gas metering, he built Makon Group into a significant indigenous oil-and-gas player before entering politics full-time.
After earlier unsuccessful runs, he won the Oyo governorship in 2019 on the PDP ticket and was re-elected in 2023. His state-level record emphasises infrastructure, education, healthcare and revenue growth — claims his supporters point to as evidence of managerial competence.
In 2026 he secured the APM presidential nomination, positioning the once-fringe party as a vehicle for his “Reset Nigeria” agenda. The platform centres on a four-year transitional government of national unity that would prioritise security architecture, education, data-driven economic reforms, and socio-political inclusion.
Makinde has repeatedly pledged that any administration he leads would not seek a second term, framing it as a reset rather than a conventional power grab. His running mate is former DSS Director-General Lawal Daura, an attempt to broaden appeal, particularly in the North.
The campaign has been active across zones, holding town halls, welcoming defectors, and projecting confidence that Makinde can defeat Tinubu in several battleground states including Oyo, Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna and others. APM messaging frequently criticises the current administration’s economic management, power sector performance, and what it calls “politics of lies and deceit.”
The deeper political calculation
Makinde’s stage leap is more than gimmickry. Nigerian politics has long wrestled with questions of leadership capacity. The late President Muhammadu Buhari faced repeated health-related absences and public speculation about fitness. Tinubu’s own age and past health narratives have been political talking points.
By refusing to weaponise age directly while spotlighting energy and endurance, Makinde tries to occupy a middle ground: respectful of experience yet insistent that the job requires visible vigour.
The move also serves internal and external signalling. It energises supporters and generates viral content at a time when opposition parties are still consolidating. Yet it arrives amid reported friction within APM itself. Just days earlier, six South-South state chairmen passed a vote of no confidence in Makinde over campaign appointments, accusing him of sidelining established structures. The episode highlights the organisational challenges of building a competitive national platform from a smaller party.
Critics were quick to respond. Some online commentators dismissed the jump as superficial, arguing that governance requires ideas, policy depth and institutional reform far more than physical theatrics.
“The Presidency is not a dancing and jumping competition,” one reaction summarised. Others saw it as smart political theatre that humanises a candidate and forces rivals to address the stamina question on his terms.
What the moment reveals about 2027
Nigeria’s next presidential contest is already shaping up as a referendum on economic hardship, insecurity and institutional trust.
Inflation, currency pressures, power shortages and security challenges remain dominant voter concerns. Makinde’s pitch is that a focused, high-energy, single-term “reset” can deliver measurable change where longer tenures have not. Whether voters buy the argument will depend less on stage leaps and more on the credibility of the agenda, the strength of grassroots organisation, and the ability to forge broader opposition coalitions.
The Ondo town hall moment is classic campaign symbolism: a politician using his body to illustrate a claim about leadership fitness. It will not decide the election. But in a political culture that thrives on memorable images and pointed challenges, it has already succeeded in focusing attention on the question Makinde wants asked: who has the energy and rigour the job demands?
As the campaign intensifies, expect more such calculated displays — and more scrutiny of whether the energy on stage translates into coherent policy and organisational delivery. For now, the governor of Oyo has planted a vivid marker.
The response from rivals will shape the next chapter of the race.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers Global, News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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