There are strong indications that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may record an outlandish victory in the 2027 presidential election, judging by the level of endorsements his re-election bid has received from across the country so far.
In every state the President sets his feet on these days, whether on official visits or for any other function, the endorsements of his re-election bid has unprecedentedly become an integral part of the programmes.
Even as the presidential poll is still two years away, from the far North in Katsina to down South, in Enugu and Anambra states, the sing songs have remained the same, with promises to collapse their political structures and deliver the states to Mr. President in the 2027 presidential election.
Interestingly, President Tinubu has not only been very strategic in his outreach and selection of the states to visit, but has also enjoyed and relished every moment of the endorsements.
In Katsina, despite the criticisms from some of the elders of the state over the visit, President Tinubu was enthusiastically all smiles while listening and dancing to the Hausa musical performance endorsing him for a second term.
In Anambra State, the governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, was bluntly undiplomatic in announcing that the state had adopted President Tinubu as its candidate for the 2027 presidential poll.
Governor Soludo said, “in 2011, before I joined APGA in 2013, the party took an official position to support and collaborate with the ruling political party and government at the centre. That year, APGA adopted the then-sitting President as its presidential candidate. That policy has not changed.
“Coincidentally, Mr. President, the current government at the centre, also professes progressivism. As Nigeria’s foremost progressive party, APGA is ideologically and strategically aligned with the centre. Those in the APC are our brothers and sisters.
“In preparation for this visit, some raised concerns about making it a partisan event. But I insisted the APC in Anambra be allowed to come out in their colours and welcome the president, all in the spirit of progressivism. We are progressives together. Here in Anambra, we know who leads the progressive movement,” he noted during the visit.
Curiously, the endorsements are not limited to only the host state governors, President Tinubu’s re-election bid has also received tremendous support and backing from many Nigerians, including former diplomat, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and essentially the political bigwigs joining the ruling party, APC, in droves from the opposition political parties.
In the words of the elder statesman, Anyaoku; “I have strong confidence in President Tinubu’s ability to navigate Nigeria through its current socio-economic and security challenges. Your Excellency’s records as a NADECO champion of the return of democracy to our country in 1999 inspire my confidence that you will successfully steer the ship of our country through its present serious challenges, including the underperforming economy, which breeds massive poverty and widespread insecurity, to the destination that we all desire.”
And to further confirm that lines are pleasantly falling in perfect places for President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the prompt response to arrest the ugly development of speculated internal crack within the families of the ruling party, especially among the chieftains of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) could not have come at a better time.
Only last week at a media briefing, prominent chieftains and members of the defunct CPC bloc in APC, did not only disassociate themselves from any plan to work against the re-election of President Tinubu but also pledged their unalloyed loyalties to the ruling party, the APC, and Mr. President’s second term bid. The chieftains, are those speculated to loyal to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Among those in attendance during the briefing held in Abuja, included heavyweights like the governor of Katsina State, Umar Dikko Raddar, his predecessor and former Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, former governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, and the Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Buba Marwa.
Rattled by the rumours that they are working against Tinubu’s re-election bid, the chieftains, in a prepared text, read by Senator Tanko Al-Makura, said: “We have come together today with clarity, unity, and purpose. We are here to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals that brought us together in 2013, to set the records straight, and to send a clear message to all Nigerians that the former CPC majority stakeholders remain strong, united, and deeply loyal to the APC and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
“We are very much here, standing tall, standing proud, and standing firm within the party that we helped to found through sweat, sacrifice, and patriotic commitment. We remain part and parcel of the APC family. It is this spirit of sacrifice, patriotism, and commitment to Nigeria’s future that guides our every action.
“Today, under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria faces challenging but necessary reforms. But, as responsible citizens and co-founders of this political party, we believe that now more than ever, we must remain steadfast, patient, and supportive. We commend the bold steps taken by President Tinubu and we urge Nigerians to trust the process, knowing that the foundation being laid today will lead to a more prosperous and secure future,” the group noted.
From the billboards strategically mounted at the city centres of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to other parts of the country to endorse him, the pressure urging President Tinubu to re-contest is intensely gathering momentum by the day.
However, despite the widespread endorsements across the country, there seems to still be a thick cloud of uncertainty hovering around the possibility of the journey turning into a stroll in the park.
The aspiration is clearly hunted by myriads of landmines, including the hostile loud voices of the coalition of the opposition political parties, which seem to be the only voice negatively crying foul, kicking against the re-election bid of the incumbent President.
For example, in the ratings of the PDP, the worsening living conditions exemplified by the extreme suffering of Nigerians, show that the APC and President Tinubu; “are completely overwhelmed and lack the competence to lead a nation like Nigeria.”
On his part, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has not spared any moment in equally hauling hostile and critical attacks on President Tinubu over his lack of capacity to solve Nigeria’s myriads of challenges, especially insecurity.
In one of his multiple posts on his X handle recently, Atiku had sarcastically quipped that; “the Tinubu-led administration has proven, time and again, to be utterly incapable, wholly incompetent, and completely devoid of any coherent ideas for tackling Nigeria’s deepening security crisis.
“This is not just my position – it is a growing consensus among political opposition leaders, respected security experts, and even members within the ruling party who, though too timid to speak publicly, confess this uncomfortable truth behind closed doors.”
From all indications, the precarious harsh economic situation facing many Nigerians today, rather than the battles from the coalition of the opposition political forces, will certainly present the most challenging hurdle against President Tinubu’s re-election bid
In the opinion of an APC chieftain who spoke with the Daily Sun, in confidence, beyond the irrepressible voices of those behind the coalition of opposition political forces, the inability of President Tinubu to display the required capability and competence in resolving the myriads of economic woes bedevilling the country will also count against him.
Warning that the major actors always forget the God factor in the entire political plotting, he said: “Yes, there is no doubt that the expected endorsements are needed, we have also seen the efforts of the members of the coalition of opposition forces, but the problem with average political actors is that they never factor the masses in their plans.
“Even if President Tinubu eventually succeeds in suppressing the opposition voices, using the defections of the bigwigs from the opposition parties as a facade to prove that the election would be a stroll in the park for him, how does he intend to appease the suffering and suffocating masses that would form the electorate to vote for him? The president has not really done well in improving the lives of the average masses,” the APC chieftain added.
In his own assessment of the prospects and challenges of Tinubu’s re-election bid, former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, argued that there is still light at the end of the tunnel despite the hurdles in the headwinds of the economic reform programmes – hunger, multidimensional poverty, and palpable insecurity.
Okechukwu told Daily Sun in a chat that: “Like every president, Asiwaju has challenges; however, the good news is that his challenges are surmountable. One must appreciate that he has laid the foundation for economic growth of the country via his economic reform programmes.
“Also, his diplomacy is akin to the doctrine of non-alignment which made Nigeria a friend of the West and a friend of the East in global politics. This is why foreign direct investment is flowing in amid global economic turmoil.
“Methinks the challenges one could locate are partially the headwinds of the economic reform programmes – hunger, multidimensional poverty, and palpable insecurity. To me, they are surmountable; all that is required is the pursuit of a middle course between market forces and the welfare of the citizenry.
“This blending was what the industrial capitalists did to whittle down the proletarian revolution Karl Marx prophesied. It is the quick-win route to Gross National Happiness, reduction of gross inequality, hunger, and multidimensional poverty,” Okechukwu argued.
On his fears on the possibility of the APC not winning the 2027 presidential election, the party’s former Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, argued that the neglect of the welfare of the Nigerian masses to concentrate on the defectors without electoral values joining the APC will pose the greatest challenge.
Speaking to Daily Sun recently, Nabena said, “My main fear is all these characters coming into our party now. I am afraid of these political vultures coming into our party and the effects it will have on our internal combustion. My party needs to re-strategise ahead of the election. We won the 2023 presidential election without them, why do we think that we need them to win the forthcoming poll? Why should we allow them into the party without scrutinising them to know their electoral value? Again, we are neglecting the masses and concentrating so much on these political vultures without much electoral value. We need the masses that can vote and protect their votes more than these so-called heavyweight politicians that have only one vote,” Nabena argued.(Daily Sun)
