Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has challenged fellow presidential hopefuls to demonstrate their physical stamina, dramatically jumping off a campaign stage in Ondo State and daring his opponents to follow suit.

Makinde, who is seeking the presidency on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), made the challenge on Thursday during the South-West town hall meeting of the Makinde/Daura campaign organisation in Akure.

Addressing supporters, the governor said he would rather assess presidential candidates by their energy and capacity to withstand the demands of the office than make their ages a campaign issue.

He then jumped down from the stage, inviting other contenders to replicate the stunt.

“When they bring their presidential candidate, let the candidate come here and also jump down,” he said.

“If they can do that, vote for them.”

Makinde also defended his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election despite President Bola Tinubu, a fellow South-West politician, seeking re-election.

He argued that presenting more than one presidential candidate from the same region was neither unusual nor a threat to national unity.

Citing the 1999 presidential election, Makinde recalled that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, both from the South-West, contested against each other after the region was given the opportunity to produce the country’s president.

“In 1999, the entire Nigeria ceded the presidency to the South-West, and we had two of our fathers, Baba President Obasanjo and Baba Olu Falae, contest the presidency, both from the South-West. And heaven did not fall,” he said.

According to him, the contest allowed Nigerians to choose between two prominent candidates from the same region, a situation he believes should not be considered controversial in 2027.

“As a matter of fact, what the South-West did was to present two of its finest, two of its best, for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with us this time around?” he asked.

The governor also urged voters to reject what he described as deceptive politics, accusing the Tinubu administration of wasting public funds.

He specifically criticised Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, over his trip from New York to Abuja to present the UN budget to the president.

Makinde questioned the necessity of the journey, arguing that the federal government had yet to clarify the national budget under which it was operating.

“Well, they can waste the taxpayers’ money, but I refuse to agree that you must use the taxpayers’ money to fly from New York to Abuja to present the UN budget when, indeed, this is an administration where, right now, we don’t know which budget they are operating on for Nigeria,” he said.

He questioned whether the country was operating the 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 budget, arguing that presenting the UN budget against that backdrop raised concerns about the administration’s fiscal management.

Makinde’s remarks come as political parties and potential candidates begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Tinubu expected to seek another term.