BY ZAINAB SULEIMAN OKINO
SOMETHING unusual is happening in the nation’s political landscape. Instead of the political class to seek our votes with conviction, evidence of performance and capacity, the long-subdued people of Nigeria are the ones fighting and scrambling to crown those who want to lead us. But not without some form of coercion, cajoling and inducement, though.
Led by 31 APC governors and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the battle to re-elect President Bola Tinubu, and for relevance in who will “deliver” the votes to trounce Tinubu’s opponents in the 2027 presidential elections, has begun in earnest. As with any confrontation – a battle of wits and politics – interests are clashing.
Another dimension to the scramble over Tinubu’s re-election is the “notice me syndrome” that has taken over our politics. All of them want Tinubu to reckon with them, so they can sink a borehole in their village and attribute it to Tinubu in the hope of a bigger deal.
Although there will be casualties in the end, already some of the governors seem to be losing ground back home while at the forefront of promoting Tinubu at the centre. A good example is the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak. He failed or refused to facilitate the return of the three senators from his state at the primaries. All three are now in the PDP faction controlled by FCT Minister Wike. The first sign of the state spiralling into Wike’s hands is already imminent, with the possibility of any senatorial seat being lost to the PDP.
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So, while the governor is preparing the ground for Tinubu’s eventual victory, the challenges at home are overwhelming. Ideally, politicians seek, cajole, coerce and beg for votes and support, but the reverse seems to be the case in the run-up to the 2027 election. Tinubu sits pretty, atop a divided body of loyalists tearing themselves apart for his sake.
Performance, positive impact of policy initiatives, and laudable development initiatives were counted as prerequisites for re-election in the past.
All that has been subsumed under a strategy of scheming for a party of one’s choice and rooting for a candidate of another party, giving a new meaning to what party loyalty, self-interest and betrayal are.
Potential voters, led by their governors, now fall heads over heels and fight among themselves to show whose support for candidate Tinubu is more potent.
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Personality clashes among supporters make candidate Tinubu and some governors feel special, above board, bankable and unstoppable. At least, that’s what the clash between 31 APC governors and Minister Wike tends to show.
Minister Wike fired the first salvo when he called out the governors of Kwara and Imo States, Hope Uzodinma. He accused them of working against him and failing to reciprocate his kind gestures.
“Take, for example, Kwara. He has been the one championing this campaign against me everywhere. Yes, I have confronted him too. I don’t talk about what I cannot defend,” said Wike, the most consequential political figure of this Republic.
He straddles between two parties, truncated his political godson’s (Governor Siminalayi Fubara) future in politics, plays one party against the other and single-handedly worked against Atiku from becoming president in 2023.
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Governor Uzodinma wears at least two additional caps – as Progressive Governors Chair and Deputy DG of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council. He is not spared by Wike. Former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, accused of alleged certificate forgery and forced out of Tinubu’s government, has been rehabilitated. He is now a governorship candidate of Wike’s PDP. Progressive governor or not, loyal to Tinubu or not, Enugu governor, Peter Mbah, could be run out of town by Wike’s loyalist, Nnaji, at the state level.
Wike’s rainbow coalition may well work victoriously for Tinubu’s re-election. All the PDP candidates in the Wike coalition are working locally for themselves and nationally for Tinubu.
Their success at the polls will be Wike and Tinubu’s victory. Therefore, the biggest losers may be the governors locked in the logjam. So, railroading against Wike’s coalition contraption by the governors may not be enough to stop his run to bring down some governors and elevate his presidential candidate at the national level and PDP governors in some states.
Now all of them are engaged in fierce loyalty battles to re-elect President Tinubu. I honestly hope they would not outdo themselves to the detriment of their principal because, sometimes, too many cooks spoil the broth.
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Another dimension to the scramble over Tinubu’s re-election is the “notice me syndrome” that has taken over our politics. All of them want Tinubu to reckon with them, so they can sink a borehole in their village and attribute it to Tinubu in the hope of a bigger deal.
All politics are local, so the saying goes. Not sure anymore.
Again, in all these, there is no thought for the citizens. The voters, the people whose voices should matter, are not even factored into the political calculus, making it nearly impossible to hold leaders accountable. If citizens have no input on who governs them, and nobody consults or even asks for their votes officially, on what basis can they engage?
People now jump over the log in their eyes to see the speck in others’, while caring less about the rot in their local government, the mountain of trash, the blocked drainages, the absence of basic amenities and general outrage over poverty in local communities. Instead of governors and representatives being called out, they look to the mighty Federal Government to come and face local challenges.
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Conversely, elections are around the corner, and people from unexpected quarters are falling heads over heels to show loyalty, or to be seen to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nothing is wrong with that; it is their constitutional right. However, when partisanship comes from the ivory tower, it calls into question what the role of academia should be – to impart knowledge or play politics.
There is nothing wrong with academics voting or supporting a candidate. It is part of their constitutional right. But the announcement by Kaduna state-owned Kaduna State University (KASU) Vice Chancellor, Professor Abdullahi Ibrahim Musa, that 600 academics drawn from public institutions have endorsed Tinubu’s re-election bid is unprecedented.
The fact that the meeting was convened by five serving governors, namely Uba Sani of Kaduna State, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, Babagana Zulum of Borno State and Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, all APC governors drumming up support for Tinubu, gave it away as a politically-induced campaign strategy.
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The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, the former Tinubu placeholder and a powerful man around the corridors of power, was there. Former Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari; Minister of Housing, Muttaqha Rabe Darma; and Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, were also present. And this is in spite of the fact that the universities are not in good shape, and the academics are feeling the pinch of the high cost of everything.
Lecturers from KASU recently had an industrial dispute over implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement and other unresolved welfare issues. Suddenly, they have found the courage not to demand what is rightly theirs, but to dabble into political endorsements.
Mercifully, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President, Professor Chris Piwuna, has since disassociated the union from the APC governors-academic pact, reiterating that the union remains apolitical and would not endorse any political party.
All these unconventional dynamics in our polity – whether it is Wike’s rainbow coalition or the governors’ mad rush to align with Tinubu, now proving an albatross – call into question our leadership recruitment process, askance federating units and governance pattern.
Again, in all these, there is no thought for the citizens. The voters, the people whose voices should matter, are not even factored into the political calculus, making it nearly impossible to hold leaders accountable. If citizens have no input on who governs them, and nobody consults or even asks for their votes officially, on what basis can they engage?
Hajiya Zainab Okino (FNGE) is the chair of Blueprint Editorial Board. She is a syndicated columnist and can be reached via zainabokino@gmail.com.
