Members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Allied Peoples Movement in Ekiti State have begun grassroots mobilisation for the presidential bid of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The two parties held a mobilisation meeting on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, with stakeholders from the state’s 16 Local Government Areas taking part in the advocacy and campaign awareness programme.
The gathering focused on building support for Makinde and strengthening cooperation between PDP and APM members ahead of the election.
The convener of the Ekiti alliance, Mrs Lanre Fajuyi, said the decision to support Makinde was based on her belief that he could provide the type of leadership she said Nigerians were seeking.
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She said the campaign was also aimed at creating support for an alternative to the current administration.
Fajuyi told PDP and APM members, youths, women, artisans and other participants that early grassroots mobilisation was necessary for Makinde’s presidential ambition.
“Nigerians are yearning for a government that will genuinely serve the interests of the masses, promote democratic governance, and address the economic and social challenges confronting the country.”
She said the campaign was designed to educate party members and other groups about the PDP-APM partnership and encourage them to work for Makinde’s emergence as president in 2027.
Parties build support from the grassroots
Fajuyi said the organisers had considered who could provide the leadership they wanted for Nigeria and settled on Makinde.
“We have looked around and asked ourselves who can provide the kind of leadership that Nigeria needs at this critical time. We believe that Governor Makinde is the right person for the position of the President of Nigeria, come 2027.”
She also called on PDP and APM members across Ekiti to begin organising support for the governor.
“I’m calling on the PDP and APM members across Ekiti to begin early grassroots mobilisation for his emergence as president in 2027.”
The Ekiti campaign is taking place after Makinde became the APM presidential candidate for the 2027 election through the formalisation of the PDP-APM alliance in May 2026.
The partnership has positioned the two parties as an opposition coalition capable of challenging the All Progressives Congress, based on the information provided by the parties.
The Ekiti mobilisation is not limited to promoting one presidential candidate. It also seeks to establish the PDP-APM partnership among party members and other groups at the grassroots.
Fajuyi said the programme was motivated by the desire to mobilise Nigerians behind a credible alternative to the current administration.
“We need a government that is genuinely ready and willing to assist the masses, and provide democratic governance that will serve the interests of the people.”
The programme brought together party stakeholders from all 16 local government areas, giving the organisers an opportunity to take their message directly to members in the state.
The groups identified youths, women, artisans and other stakeholders as part of the people they intend to sensitise through the campaign.
PDP turns to APM platform
The PDP-APM arrangement also has a legal and political reason, according to Sanya Atofarati, the PDP/APM spokesperson for the South-West.
Atofarati said the partnership was formed to preserve multi-party democracy and provide an opposition platform ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said the arrangement would give PDP members and other opposition groups a platform through which they could participate actively in the election.
“The beauty of democracy lies in the multi-party system. What we are witnessing today is a joint alliance between the PDP and the APM because we understand the legal impediments and sanctions currently confronting the PDP.”
He said PDP members who intend to contest elective positions could use the APM platform in view of the issues confronting the PDP.
“In view of this, it is only wise for PDP members to seek a more viable alternative platform in the interest of those who intend to contest one position or another under the party,” Atofarati said.
The comments place the Ekiti mobilisation within the larger structure of the PDP-APM partnership, which was formalised in May 2026 and has Makinde as its presidential candidate.
APM Vice Chairman in Ekiti State, Remilekun Solola, also backed the partnership, describing it as a strategic platform for building a credible opposition ahead of the elections.
The Thursday meeting in Ado-Ekiti thus gave the partnership a grassroots focus in Ekiti, with party stakeholders beginning mobilisation among members and other groups more than a year before the 2027 general elections.
The organisers said the campaign would focus on sensitisation and support for Makinde, alongside efforts to strengthen the PDP-APM partnership in the state.
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