By Bola BOLAWOLE
turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533; 0803 251 0193
(Published in the TREASURES column in the New Telegraph newspaper edition of Wednesday, 26 August, 2026).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally declared open the 2027 presidential electioneering campaign; the governorship and other elections will soon follow. Now the presidential candidates and their political parties are free to openly campaign for votes. Not that they have ever stopped campaigning, though! So the INEC declaration is nothing but mere academic exercise.
Campaigns towards the 2027 General Elections started ever before the 2023 elections had ended! That is in the nature of politics! The gale of defections that we have witnessed since 2023; the formation and dissolution of alliances; the critique of government policies and programmes; the personal attacks and tirades that politicians have traded amongst themselves; the litany of litigations aimed at gaining advantage, and the non-stop activities on social and other media – all of these have kept politics and politicking perpetually on the front-burner.
And, of course, we have had a couple of off-season governorship and legislative elections that have afforded the political parties and politicians the opportunity to sell themselves to the electorate. But with INEC officially flagging off presidential electioneering campaign, the veil is removed from the masquerade.
What are the issues that will define the 2027 electioneering campaign? Characteristically, mudslinging and name-calling will be part and parcel of such issues but they must not define it. Politicians will always seek to dazzle and confuse the people. Pomp and colour are unavoidable accompaniments of politics. No one will ever divorce politics and razzmatazz. The gift of the garb is an age-old weapon that politicians wield to great advantage.
As in war, the first casualty in politics is truth. Politicians tell lies. They deliberately are economical with the truth. They promise what they have neither the intention nor capacity to deliver. Heaven and earth are there for them to offer to the unwary and the gullible. Just anything that will give them the advantage. Don’t trust any politician who vows that the blood of Nicollo Machiavelli does not flow in his or her own veins. For them, the end justifies the means.
All these have always been present in our politics, and we cannot expect this electioneering campaign to be different. But it is in our place as the electorate to shine our eyes, as they say. They will seek to hoodwink us. They will want to drag us to their corner by all means. It is for us to resist their antics. For, as they say, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Therefore, we must resist all temptations and remove ourselves from all prebental entanglements aimed at distracting us and stay focused on the issues that we want to define the 2027 General Elections. In my own opinion, the issues are not many. They are: Corruption; the economy; security, and restructuring. Except a dark horse emerges from the blues, my own thinking is that we have three main contenders – just like we had in 2023 – and these are the incumbent, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his two main challengers in 2023, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi.
Tinubu has the advantage of incumbency but at the same time carries its baggage. While his challengers can afford to run on promises, Tinubu does not enjoy such a luxury; he must showcase his achievements in the critical areas listed above, as well as adequately answer to criticisms of his programmes, policies, actions and inactions. He will be called upon to defend speeches he made and issues he overlooked. If he has done well in the past three years, it is an advantage; if not, he has a mountain to climb.
Four years ago, Tinubu was judged on account of his pedigree as a politician with uncommon political sagacity and as a master political strategist. His generally-acclaimed commendable record of achievements as the governor of Lagos state stood him in good stead. He also ran on promises. And judging by his antecedents, many gave him the benefit of the doubt even though our people generally distrust politicians – and for good reasons.
Three years down the line, Tinubu’s masquerade has no hiding place any more. He will now run, not on promises but on his record of achievements. He will be making a grievous mistake if he does otherwise. The 2027 presidential election is Tinubu’s to lose. But he has to defend his records on many fronts. Has he fought corruption? Has he made the country safer than he met it? He also has to defend his economic policies – removal of fuel subsidies especially. Was he right to have announced “subsidy is gone” on his first day in office? And the merger of the official and black market foreign exchange rates on the same day?
Tinubu should be truthful with us: With the benefits of hindsight, would he have acted differently? We must also ask if Tinubu’s pro-restructuring allies are happy with his score-card in that very important respect.
Most in-coming governments knew very little of what they were going to meet in office. Yet, they would have made promises, which would soon appear outlandish. Most of us think governors are powerful; maybe they are. We also think presidents are gods! Why not? But I have seen governors shackled. I have seen them throw their hands up in despair! I have seen them shed hot tears! I have seen decisions forced on them that they loathe like hemlock. There are (unelected) forces mightier than governors and presidents. And there are many of such. Here, we are not even talking of the selfish interest of many or of the enlightened self-interest that underpins the actions of every politician.
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown – any head! If Atiku becomes president tomorrow, he will suffer the same fate. As vice-president, see what he was put through! If Obi becomes president tomorrow, he, too, will suffer the same fate. Witness what he was put through as the governor of Anambra state. Not to talk of being the president of Nigeria! But, for now, the luxury is Atiku’s and Obi’s to run their mouths, as it were! Tinubu did so four years ago, but today, he knows better. I expect Atiku and Obi to ask Tinubu uncomfortable questions. They must take apart his policies and programmes – but let them offer alternatives for Nigerians to consider.
Has Tinubu’s economic policies salvaged Nigeria from the brink like they say? What are the statistics? Show us the evidence that we were at the brinks. Who and what took us there? And what have you done to them? What will Atiku and Obi do differently? Atiku has said he will return the fuel subsidies. Immediately, he ran into a storm and began to tinker with the statement. I salute his courage all the same. We need leaders of their own convictions. Tinubu is one. With his “bring back fuel subsidy” statement, Atiku may be another. Obi is yet to convince me that he is one. Each time he makes ground-breaking pronouncements and you ask him how he will implement them, he tells you to wait until he gets into office! Smart alec!
I disagree with those trying to frighten Atiku out of his “bring back fuel subsidy” statement. What we should do is ask him the template he has in mind. How can we subsidize fuel without the humongous corruption that almost sank the whole country the other time? Every country subsidizes something for their citizens. Usually, it is something they consider critical to drive their socio-economic development. It could be agriculture, health, education, social security, etc.
Tell me, what is NIgeria subsidizing for its citizens? If corrupton is tamed, if the humongous allocations going to the three tiers of government since the removal of fuel subsidy are not diverted or stolen, Nigeria has the capacity to subsidize something for its citizens. Two critical areas that will drive economic development and which will touch the life of every citizen is affordable fuel and power supply. Our governments can do both if we set our priorities right.
On the issue of insecurity, has Tinubu made the country safer than he met it? He should tell us with facts and figures which should correspond with those in the possession of every Nigerian because we are the ones wearing the shoes of insecurity, not our leaders who are over-protected day and night, under the sky and under the roof. And what have the governors especially done with the deluge of Naira – Naira rain – in which they are swimming, courtesy of the removal of fuel subsidy and Tinubu’s large-heartedness?
Tinubu recently expressed his frustration with the governors when he asked them to stop frivolous projects and concentrate on things that benefit the people. We must add to the list frivolous constituency projects by legislators at National, State and Local Government levels. But beyond mere platitudes, what concrete action can the president take?
On these vexed issues, what will Atiku and Obi do differently? Be bold! Tell us your mind! Let no one shut you up! Your ideas may be what the country needs. It may be what will rally voters around you. Don’t be too timid to express yourself. This electioneering campaign must be one of ideas – workable ideas – and the field, I dare to say, is wide open to all the contenders.
I end with Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist Party leader: “Let a hundred flowers blossom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.”
Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.