The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) has declared that its presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, will defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 12 battleground states identified by the President, daring the incumbent to travel by road and engage Nigerians directly during his campaign.
The organisation, which is campaigning for Makinde on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), also predicted victory in Rivers State, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and other parts of the country in the January 2027 presidential election.
In a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the MDPCO said Tinubu’s decision to focus his campaign on 12 states reflected his apprehension over Makinde’s growing popularity.
The 12 battleground states identified by the President are Oyo, Kaduna, Rivers, Plateau, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.
The organisation insisted that Tinubu’s planned visits to the states would not change voters’ determination to reject his re-election bid, blaming his administration for the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
It said: “We challenge President Tinubu not to have a change of mind but visit the states to face the people. He should travel around the country by road and witness the decrepit state of federal highways, the squalour in which Nigerians live and the level of infrastructural decay across the country.”
The MDPCO accused the President’s inner circle of arrogance and political overreach, arguing that their actions had deepened public resentment and weakened the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s electoral prospects.
It further challenged Tinubu to move beyond airport receptions and campaign rallies to interact directly with residents of communities and towns rather than relying on what it described as “APC rented crowd”.
“If President Tinubu believes he is popular as he claims, he should not stop at the rally ground or at the airport when he gets to any of the states,” the statement said.
The organisation also criticised the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, describing it as “vacuous”, while projecting Makinde’s “reset Nigeria” agenda as a practical alternative focused on rebuilding institutions and improving governance.
According to the campaign council, Makinde’s programme centres on an all-inclusive, four-year transitional government of national unity, with priority attention to education, the economy, security and socio-political reforms.
It said the agenda would tackle poverty through increased production, strengthen security through intelligence gathering and coordinated action, expand access to quality education and promote inclusive governance.
The organisation maintained that feedback from its campaign activities showed that Makinde’s message was gaining traction, particularly among young Nigerians.
“Our Campaign is proud to acknowledge that feedback from the field indicates that Seyi Makinde’s reset Nigeria agenda is resonating with Nigerians, especially the youths, who not only see light at the end of the tunnel, but a bright sunny day under a Makinde-Daura Presidency,” it said.
The MDPCO urged Tinubu against wasting public resources on his campaign council, which it derisively described as a “Nebuchadnezzar” Campaign Council, alleging that its members lacked the political appeal to secure votes for the President.
