Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said he would not compromise the interest of the state to retain any political associates, insisting that his commitment to serving the people takes precedence over personal and political relationships.
Makinde stated this during a media chat on Fresh FM in Ibadan, while responding to questions about the departure of some prominent political figures, including former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from his camp, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, and Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan, amongst others.
The governor said he was prepared to part ways with anyone whose expectations or demands would require him to sacrifice what he considered best for Oyo State. To him, “When it comes to what is best for Oyo State, I cannot compromise. Even you, Mayor, if you will make me compromise on what is best for Oyo State, I am sorry, I will let you go,” Makinde told the Anchor of the programme.
Arapaja, who was former deputy governor of the state, had recently declared that he regretted supporting Makinde to secure his second term in 2023, alleging that Makinde used and dumped him.
The governor described politics as a game of interests, suggesting that changes in political affiliations and alliances were part of the nature of the political process. “Politics is about interest,” he said.
Makinde noted that the alliance that preceded his emergence as governor in 2019 later experienced departures, including that of Ladoja and Senator Sharafadeen Alli, while several members of the PDP state executive committee also left the party.
He however recalled that some of those who left his camp had believed that he would not make any headway in politics, “But what God will do, He will do”.
Cautioning against assuming that old age automatically translates into wisdom, Makinde recounted a lesson he said he learnt from his father about the need to distinguish between age and sound judgment. “Stupid people also grow old. Not all elderly people give good advice”, he said, stressing that political associates would continue to come and go, but said his priority remained service to the people. “People will come and go, but for some of us, serving the people is the ultimate goal,” he said.
On his presidential ambition on the APM, Makinde said that opposition party leaders “are talking and we will continue to be talking. I will win the election. APM will win. Keep the recordings of today. In 2019, the opposition coalition worked. It will still work in 2027”, he said.
Though he believed that he would emerge the presidential candidate, he said that if he is not chosen, he would support whoever emerges.
