Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, the presidential candidate for the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), has officially selected Ibrahim Adamu Bala as his running mate for the upcoming 2027 presidential election.
According to data recently uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal, Bala is 51 years old and hails from Bauchi State.
This selection completes the APM ticket, creating a North-South alliance that the party hopes will broaden its national electoral appeal.
Sources familiar with the party’s internal process noted that the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, played a pivotal role in the selection, recommending him during strategic consultations intended to bolster the party’s standing in the North-East region.
While Bala’s name has appeared on the INEC portal, neither the APM nor Governor Makinde has released an official statement regarding the choice.
Governor Makinde, currently in his second and final term leading Oyo State, first announced his presidential bid on May 14 during a joint rally held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, involving his faction of the PDP and the APM.
This announcement followed a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the PDP South-West Zonal Secretariat.
During the rally, Makinde emphasized that the alliance would field candidates for all offices, from the presidency down to the state Houses of Assembly, and called for opposition unity for the 2027 polls.
On May 30, while formally accepting the APM presidential ticket in Ibadan, Makinde pledged to “reset” Nigeria. He promised to introduce reforms focused on unemployment, hunger, insecurity, and the rising cost of living.
Upon receiving the party’s flag and Certificate of Return from National Chairman Yusuf Dantalle, the governor further committed to decentralizing Nigeria’s security architecture to give states more power to combat local security challenges.
