The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the June 20 Ekiti State election, Wole Oluyede, has called on Nigerians to make the 2027 presidential election a referendum on performance, continuity and national development rather than political sentiment.
Oluyede, who is also the Convener of the Oluyede Progressive Alliance for Renewed Hope Agenda (OPARHA), urged Nigerians to assess the policies, economic reforms and infrastructure projects of President Bola Tinubu’s administration before deciding on the next presidential mandate.
In a statement made available in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, the PDP chieftain said Nigeria could not afford to abandon long-term policies and projects that, according to him, required sufficient time to mature and deliver their intended benefits.
He argued that the country needed policy consistency, stability and sustained investment to maximise the gains of ongoing economic and infrastructure reforms.
Oluyede said the 2027 election should therefore focus on what the country had achieved, what remained to be done and which political leadership had the capacity to move Nigeria from reform to prosperity.
“The 2027 presidential election should not be a referendum on sentiment. It should be a referendum on direction, performance and continuity,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to support Tinubu for a second four-year term, which he said should be dedicated to continuity, consolidation, completion and delivery of greater benefits to citizens.
According to Oluyede, Nigeria has spent decades grappling with infrastructure deficits, economic restructuring and diversification, making it necessary to consolidate the progress recorded under the present administration rather than repeatedly starting afresh.
He said the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure programme had the potential to reshape the national economy, citing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway, East-West Road and other strategic federal highways.
The former Ekiti governorship candidate said the importance of such projects went beyond road construction, describing them as economic corridors capable of connecting farmers with markets, manufacturers with consumers and workers with employment opportunities.
“A road is not just a road. It is an economic corridor. It connects farmers to markets, manufacturers to consumers, workers to opportunities and communities to the wider national economy,” he said.
Oluyede, however, urged the federal government to strengthen maintenance systems, ensure transparency in project execution and enforce construction standards to protect its infrastructure investments.
He said the next phase of the administration should focus increasingly on translating macroeconomic reforms and infrastructure investments into tangible improvements in citizens’ living conditions.
Among the areas he identified for sustained attention were job creation, food security, affordable healthcare, education, electricity, transportation and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Oluyede also said increased government revenue and improved investor confidence should ultimately result in better public services and greater economic opportunities for Nigerians.
He maintained that the benefits of ongoing reforms would be easier to achieve through policy continuity, arguing that abandoning existing programmes could undermine the progress already recorded.
“Let us disagree politically, but let us not disagree with development. Let us demand accountability, but let us also recognise progress where we see it,” Oluyede said.
He urged the government to address economic hardship, correct shortcomings and strengthen its reforms while maintaining the foundation already laid for national development.
