Presidency Is Not A Retirement Home, It Needs An Agile Leader – GSM Advocates Blast Critics Over Akure Stage Jump

The GSM Advocates, a support group loyal to the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has lambasted those criticizing the Governor over his recent stage jump in Akure, Ondo State, insisting that the Presidency of Nigeria is not a retirement home for tired leaders.

Governor Makinde, a chieftain of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and one of the leading figures being touted for the 2027 presidential contest, had generated public debate when he jumped down from a high campaign stage during a political engagement in Akure. The video has since gone viral.

While critics loyal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu described the action as childish and unpresidential, the GSM Advocates said the reaction is hypocritical, petty and born out of fear.

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its State Coordinator, Bashorun Abiola, the group said the jump was a deliberate and symbolic message to Nigerians that Makinde is physically fit, mentally alert and ready for the rigours of leading a complex and demanding nation.

Speaking through Bashorun Abiola, the group stated that the Presidency requires much more than age and long years in politics, but energy, stamina and presence of mind.

“The Presidency of Nigeria is not a retirement home. It is not meant for those who need assistance to walk, who doze off at international summits, or who cannot stand for 30 minutes to address the nation. It is a 24-hour job that requires physical energy, mental stamina and emotional intelligence. That jump was GSM telling Nigerians – I am fit, I am ready, I can lead,” Bashorun Abiola said.

According to him, the coordinated attacks from the All Progressives Congress (APC) media handlers show that the ruling party is already unsettled by Makinde’s growing acceptability across the country, particularly among youths, professionals and the middle class.

“When you cannot defend failure, you attack a man’s strength. They cannot defend a bag of rice at over N70,000, they cannot defend petrol at over N1,400 per litre, they cannot defend the Naira that has become tissue paper, they cannot defend the hardship in the land. So, they resort to attacking a man for jumping off a stage. That is how empty they have become,” Bashorun Abiola added.

The GSM Advocates Coordinator further contrasted the current economic realities under President Tinubu with Makinde’s performance in Oyo State, noting that Nigerians, including schoolchildren, are feeling the brunt of inflation.

Bashorun Abiola noted that while Nigerians are being told to endure pain without any clear roadmap, Governor Makinde has shown that leadership can be reform-minded and still compassionate.

He listed some of Makinde’s achievements to include the consistent payment of workers’ salaries on the 25th of every month for over six years, massive road infrastructure across Ibadan and other geopolitical zones, the 11MW Independent Power Project, the renovation and equipping of over 200 Primary Healthcare Centres, significant improvement in the education sector, and massive job creation through agribusiness and youth empowerment.

“Before politics, Seyi Makinde built a thriving oil and gas business from scratch and employed thousands. As Governor, he built systems that work. He did not ask Oyo people to endure pain while he enjoys luxury. He feels the pain of the people and provides solutions. That is the kind of leadership Nigeria needs,” Bashorun Abiola stated.

The GSM Advocates maintained that modern nations are built by energetic, visionary and present leaders, citing examples of America, Singapore and Rwanda.

Bashorun Abiola stressed that Nigeria, with its youthful population, cannot afford to be led by leaders who are disconnected from present realities.

“The 2027 presidential election will not be decided by propaganda. It will be decided by records, capacity and compassion. It will be about who can lift Nigeria off the ground, not who can lift himself off a stage. In that contest, Seyi Makinde stands tall. He represents the new Nigeria we all desire.

“No amount of sponsored articles and petty blackmail can stop an idea whose time has come,” the GSM Advocates Coordinator concluded.