Unbridled Obsession with 2027 Elections

Despite Nigeria’s current challenges, the self-centred political class seems more focused on the 2027 elections than addressing critical issues affecting the masses and fulfilling their campaign promises to their constituents, Davidson Iriekpen writes 

With just less than two years into the tenure of the current administrations at the federal and state levels, the focus of the political class has already shifted from governance to the 2027 elections.

In well-functioning democracies, once a new government is inaugurated for a four-year term, it immediately begins fulfilling campaign promises. It is not until after three and a half years that the focus shifts to re-election. 

But this is not the case in Nigeria where immediately after a new government resumes office, rather than face governance squarely, its agents and political party surreptitiously begin to plot for the next elections.

In no time, the chants of “No Vacancy in Aso Rock in…” or “No Vacancy in Government House in …” become common in the media.

Though President Bola Tinubu has not spent two years in his first four-year mandate, the political atmosphere in the country is already charged and tense over the 2027 elections with some sycophants already drumming support for him for 2027. 

Even the president had on many occasions informed Nigerians that his focus is not on 2027 yet, but on how to deliver good governance to the people, his body language and the political intrigues coming out of the Presidency do not discourage the subtle re-election campaigns.

His failure to call some of his aides championing the clamour for 2027 to order lends credence to his subtle and tacit approval.

In  December 2023, Daniel Bwala, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Public Communication and Media, while speaking in his capacity as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson in the 2023 general election, declared that even if Tinubu was given 30 years, nothing would work in Nigeria.

Ironically, the same Bwala has made a U-turn today, claiming that nobody can defeat the same Tinubu in 2027 due to his impressive achievements.

Also, some serving governors, in their second term, have abandoned governance to eye the presidency when they still have over two years to provide dividends of democracy to their people.

In some states, governors who are in their first term have shifted focus to re-election, leaving governance to suffer.

Professional politicians with governorship and senatorial ambitions have become a distraction to the current occupants of these offices, turning the heat on them, while good governance is relegated to the background.

Sadly, all these are playing out when the ordinary citizens, whom they claim to serve, are facing the worst times of their lives. With inflation, insecurity, kidnapping, armed robbery, joblessness, and hunger becoming the norm, life remains miserable for the common people.

Yet, the preoccupation of the political class is how to get another term in office or anoint a successor and amass public funds to fund the next election.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, had set the tone for 2027 when after the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, he said his party would use its template in the Edo governorship election to win the November 16 election in Ondo and also take over Anambra, and other states in the South-east.

Even when he led members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC to a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure before the governorship election in the state, Ganduje vowed that APC would capture Ondo and other South-west states, stressing that the strategy to be deployed to win the Ondo election would be kept under wraps.

He noted that taking over control of Ondo and Osun states would boost the re-election bid of President Tinubu, who is from the region, in 2027.

“In this geopolitical zone, we must deliver 100 per cent in favour of APC. Therefore, Ondo State, you must be at the forefront, the two other states – Oyo and Osun – we will capture them, but I will not reveal our secret. We are strategising. Everything must be 100 per cent behind President Tinubu,” he said.

Many observers had viewed his utterances as ominous signs that INEC would not deliver a credible election any time soon.

In recent times, the visits of President Tinubu’s son, Seyi, to influential northern leaders and politicians have raised the tempo of political activities ahead of the 2027 elections.

While these visits have been described as Ramadan outreach and the Renewed Hope Youth Engagement initiative, many observers see them as a calculated political move to strengthen his father’s political influence in the North.

The premature focus on the next electoral cycle, less than two years into the tenure of this administration, is a distraction to the current occupants of elective offices and a disservice to the Nigerian people who entrusted them with the mandate to govern them for four years.

Having lost out in the previous elections, it is not out of place for the opposition parties to begin to strategise, align and realign or plan a coalition far ahead of the 2027 general election.

But the priority of those already in government should be to allow their good works to speak for them instead of losing focus with reelection bids.

The attention being given to the elections coming up in 2027 by elected political actors in the current administration at the federal and state levels may jeopardise the fulfilment of the campaign promises made before the 2023 general election.

Politicians must prioritise good governance over their selfish ambitions. The primary duty of elected officials is to serve the people for four uninterrupted years.

By allowing their ambitions to overshadow their responsibilities, they are betraying the trust reposed in them by the electorate. This is why the political class should set aside their personal ambitions and focus on delivering tangible results and meaningful change for the Nigerian people.

As Nigerians approach the 2027 elections, the nation’s future and its citizens’ well-being depend on the decisions and actions taken by those in positions of power. It is a matter of duty for the political class to rise above their self-interests and work towards building a better and more prosperous Nigeria for all.

Politicians need to jettison their 2027 ambitions and concentrate on governance. The Nigerian electorate deserves better, and it is up to the political class to deliver on their promises and uphold the principles of good governance and democracy.