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Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has called for greater transparency across Nigeria’s petroleum value chain, saying the country’s crude oil resources must deliver tangible and measurable benefits to Nigerians.
Makinde spoke on Monday at the commissioning of his Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Office in Abuja.
He said transparency was needed across the petroleum sector, from crude oil production and domestic allocation to refining, transportation, distribution, taxes and retail margins.
The governor also questioned the pricing of crude supplied to local refineries, arguing that Nigerians should not pay international-equivalent prices for a resource produced domestically.
Makinde compared the situation to a community that produces its own food but is then required to pay the price of importing it from another country.
“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 said the benefit of locally produced crude should be incorporated into the system at the point of supply to domestic refineries, rather than being addressed later through unclear interventions at petrol stations after additional costs and inefficiencies have accumulated.
Makinde said his Reset Nigeria agenda was focused on dismantling opaque systems and restoring public confidence in government. He stressed that government should make its decisions and management of national resources open to public scrutiny.
“Government must show its workings. Nigerians must be able to see how decisions are made and how national resources are managed.”
The APM presidential candidate also called for broader participation in the Reset Nigeria initiative, saying it should involve Nigerians in their homes, markets, schools, offices, farms, factories and communities, rather than remain a discussion among politicians.
He said the movement should listen to the concerns of traders affected by rising transport costs, farmers struggling to move produce to markets, business owners facing higher operating costs when fuel prices increase and young Nigerians who work hard but struggle to see a clear path to a better life.
Makinde said the campaign office was open to Nigerians who believed the country could function better and urged citizens to join the Reset Nigeria conversation.
“Reset Nigeria cannot be a conversation among politicians alone. It must become a conversation in our homes, markets, schools, offices, farms, factories and communities.
“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. So, I invite you: join the Reset Nigeria conversation,”he said.
Earlier, APM National Leader and Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, endorsed Makinde’s economic vision and leadership credentials.
Mohammed said those who underestimated the APM did so at their own risk, describing Makinde as one of the best human capital assets Nigeria had produced.
He praised Makinde’s record in Oyo State, describing him as a strong mobiliser, an effective manager of resources and an accomplished engineer who had achieved significant results with limited resources.
Mohammed also said the Abuja campaign office, which he noted was provided solely by Makinde, demonstrated the presidential candidate’s seriousness and preparedness for the task ahead.
APM National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, said the Reset Nigeria project was intended to rescue a country that had drifted and establish a political platform where competence, rather than ethnicity or religion, would determine leadership.
Dantalle said the turnout at the event showed that Nigerians were seeking a new political direction.
He described the campaign headquarters as the “engine room” of the party’s efforts to win the 2027 elections and said the APM had fielded credible candidates across the country.
According to him, the Makinde/Daura ticket offered Nigerians the prospect of better governance, improved national security, economic prosperity and socio-religious harmony.
Dantalle also expressed confidence that Makinde would serve all Nigerians as president, citing his record as Oyo governor.
He said the experience of APM’s vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura, who previously headed a critical security service, would help the administration confront insecurity.
“Rest assured that Makinde will be President to all Nigerians as he has ably demonstrated as Governor of Oyo State,” he said.
He added, “With a competent vice-presidential candidate, Alhaji Lawal Daura, who once headed a critical security service in the country, insecurity will be tackled head-on.”
The APM chairman pledged that the party would run an issue-based campaign centred on practical solutions, competence and Nigeria’s future rather than bitterness, division and hatred.
In a goodwill message, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), 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 make politicians enemies. He added that opposition parties would work together towards producing a new Nigeria.
The event was attended by APM vice-presidential candidate Alhaji Lawal Daura, former Osun State Governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, national and state legislators, members of the APM Board of Trustees and National Working Committee, party supporters and other dignitaries.
