Help! Politicians may burst Nigerians’ brains before 2027

September 15, 2026 12:08 am

When the Nigerian Television Authority organised the first-known televised political debate in the country between the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Chief MKO Abiola, and the presidential standard-bearer of the National Republican Convention, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, in March 1993, doubtful if anyone would have anticipated that a day would come when such a serious political exercise would descend into theatrical displays. These were better days of politicians who had ideas of how the nation could move forward with practical, verifiable strategies.

For the Gen Zs among us, it may be necessary to tell you that SDP and NRC were created by the dubious regime of Gen Ibrahim Babangida, which was actually part of his own strategies to perpetuate himself in office beyond 1992, when he was forced out following the crisis he orchestrated by nullifying the June 1993 presidential election massively won by Abiola. Though a subtle military dictator who never had a willingness to leave office, the presidential contestants were still given the mighty opportunity to express themselves and sell their political agendas to Nigerians.

There had been political debates after the 1993 presidential and governorship candidates’ debates since 2003, though some incumbents ─ especially President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999—2007) ─ always found excuses to stay away from such debates held during his administration.

Times have, however, changed. Debates among political candidates appear to have lost both steam and relevance. Before and after the Independent National Electoral Commission lifted the ban on political campaigns, major contenders and a few no-hopers have treated Nigerians to the drama of the absurd, trying to sell to the electorate their capabilities that will transform the nation into an economic El Dorado based on confusing sentiments.

Having believed it might be difficult to drag certain personalities to a debate hall, most of our majorly outspoken presidential candidates have resorted to tactics and presentations which are not only outlandish, reckless, ridiculous and scandalous, but mostly barefaced lies which are believed to be attributes and the natural languages of politics. You may choose to ask the late French General and leader, Charles de Gaulle (that’s if you see him), about this.

In attempts to burst Nigerians’ brains before the 2027 presidential election, some candidates have been trading verbal blows over the magical promise of the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to restore the fraud-laden fuel subsidy regime that President Bola Tinubu ended during his inauguration on May 29, 2023. Even after his spokesman tried to extricate the ADC flag bearer from an obvious web of error, Atiku danced himself back into the same web, sticking to his empty gun.

The former vice president’s latest stance is more than confusing, as it contradicts his position during the run-up to the 2023 poll, when he promised to end the opaque subsidy on petroleum products like other candidates, citing corruption and a lack of transparency. Obviously, some Nigerians, who are heavily burdened by the cost of petroleum products and desire relief, hailed the promise without considering the logic and the cost.

Despite not enjoying the other major opposition candidates on this contentious subject, Atiku has continued his strange logic. Incredibly, the ADC representative has failed to supply any specific data and the premises that are needed to compute the viability of restoring fuel subsidy and the survival of Nigeria’s uncertain economic outlook. He has not been able to produce the facts and figures on the volume of consumption, landing cost, subsidy figures on various products, the projected price of the dollarised crude oil, and what becomes of local refineries — some already completed and others in the pipeline – if his ‘threat’ is carried out.

It is needless to think that anyone who aspires to handle Nigeria’s complex economy wouldn’t unrepentantly shout about “subsidy savings” without a basic understanding. The Muhammadu Buhari (of blessed memory) government did not make a single naira provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 budget. The Buhari regime had taken loans to fund the fraud cyclone called subsidy payments for seven years while money meant for capital projects was diverted to augment subsidy payments. States feared they would get zero allocation from the federation account in April 2023 as a result of ballooning subsidy payments.

A basic level of arithmetic simply means that what the current government did after May 2023 was not to pile up any savings somewhere (from the ‘stopped’ fuel subsidy payments). There is no government revenue or account called ‘fuel subsidy savings’. It stopped serial borrowing to fund the greed of some bigwigs, the NNPCL and thieving marketers. It is infantile and narrow for anyone to keep hammering on the government accounting for a non-existing ‘subsidy savings’ every other day.

The Tinubu government is not performing magic by embarking on the construction of 1,068 kilometres Badagry-Sokoto Superhighway; the 700-km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road; the Kano-Maradi (don’t forget that this is in Niger Republic) ‘sub-regional rail line ‘; the 421-km Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Road dualisation; the Sagamu-Benin Expressway reconstruction; the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway construction, among several others. There is now more money to do more projects. Asking for details of subsidy savings is not only standing logic on its head, but it is also simply puerile, with due respect.

Obviously bored with making presentations on the settled fuel subsidy debate, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Coalition, Mr Peter Obi, continued his well-planned campaign across the country by visiting Benue State last week. In a scenario akin to scenes from ancient Yoruba films, Obi’s convoy was said to have been blocked or banned (or both) from passing through the state by some miscreants. Wonders!

The last time I checked (just a few minutes ago), Obi is still a bona fide citizen of Nigeria and the standard-bearer of a political party on an INEC-sanctioned campaign train. I have not been able to understand when campaigning in a state becomes a crime. If it has even become one, should thugs be the enforcers of such an unseen regulation?

It got more scandalous when one realises that this barbaric barricade was executed successfully in a state capital where a police command exists and, in a state where a Catholic priest is governor, just by the grace of God. I don’t know why the police commissioner in the state and the divisional police officer in the area where this shameful episode unfolded are still in the Benue State command up till this moment.

Don’t forget that when some extremists became the enforcers of the politically motivated sharia law in the North during the Obasanjo government, some Islamic leaders and their sponsors in government hailed them as those doing the dictates of Allah. Since 2009, the nation has lost thousands of innocent lives and resources beyond estimation to the raging inferno of terrorism and banditry, which have their roots in the sharia enforcers.

Is it not possible to ask Governor Hyacinth Alia why he would allow the seat of hell to have a resting place in his state? Has this state not suffered enough in the hands of killer Fulani herdsmen and internal bandits? Hasn’t Nigeria enough troubles on its hands at the moment? Why must any sane person add to the rising tension in the country in collaboration with some lunatics fanning the needless and illogical ember of Yoruba-Igbo ethnic division on social media because of the 2027 elections?

I hate to dabble in the empty threat allegedly issued by Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State that Obi is not welcomed in the state, since he has yet to carry out his threat. I hope someone will tell the governor, no matter how powerful he has become, that he has no such right under Nigeria’s current constitution, regardless of its military origin.

I believe any politician has the right to take his campaign to any community in the country, regardless of the little notice given, though I expect our dear Obi to do better at his next destination after the Benue experience. Our dear politicians, instead of piling more pressure on Nigerians at this time, should be told that there are more pressing challenges confronting the nation than shooting political skits to please any leader. Tinubu himself is not known to subscribe to such tactics.

Before dashing off to Benue, however, Obi made a controversial statement that some watchers are still tasking their brains to decode. In an unbelievable statement of endorsement, the NDC candidate had backed the aspiration of the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, Governor Seyi Makinde, during the APM’s campaign flag-off in Abuja. He described Makinde as highly qualified to occupy the highest office in the land in 2027. I’m sure the Oyo governor would have been surprised, just like most people, by such free advertisement.

I have always maintained that politicians are a funny lot. They belong to the same political family but different camps. Earlier this year, before candidates from the major parties were picked, Makinde convened a strategic meeting of major opposition parties, featuring the chieftains of the ADC, NDC, Peoples Democratic Party, and other mushrooming political parties, at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.

At the Ibadan Summit, the opposition resolved to field a single joint presidential candidate in 2027 to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress and strengthen its efforts to unseat Tinubu. Eight other agendas were unveiled at the end of the well-attended summit.

The NDC elements were at the Ibadan summit. A qualified Makinde convened the meeting. After the meeting, different candidates emerged in their respective political parties, meaning that on the summit day in Ibadan, Makinde was not qualified as the ‘single joint presidential candidate’ of the opposition, as the governor had subtly plotted, by the way.

Makinde suddenly became qualified on the day of his presidential campaign flag-off on the platform of another lightweight party in Abuja, the APM. Haba! Hold your simplicity responsible when a politician greets you with good morning, and you fail to look at the sky to verify the claim. I’m no longer surprised by politicians’ enthusiasm and confidence in victory even when all indices point in the opposite direction. I respect Makinde’s confidence. Have I said anything unclear?

I have equally heard of a serial presidential contender in the Social Democratic Party, who has yet to score up to a cumulative 100,000 votes in his adventure, shooting content at gullible Nigerians by promising to sell petrol for N650/litre by fiat if (not when) voted into power. He didn’t tell Nigerians which government refinery has refined 10 barrels of crude since the Babangida regime that could be railroaded into selling fuel by fiat. Omo ake!

Another content creator and cruise catcher promised a minimum wage of N500,000 in the country, while another no-hopper promised to install solar lights on every roof in Nigeria if he wins the presidential election. Do some politicians engage their brains in sensible conversation at all before making some statements? Just asking ni o!

Could we ascribe the sorry state of our political conversation to the mediocrity that has pervaded most sectors of our national life for sometimes? Won’t it be rational to say that this low-level mediocrity has equally affected the quality of personalities who have emerged on the political scene and as leaders in our midst since IBB truncated the nation’s political journey in 1993?

I’m afraid these skit makers may burst Nigerians’ brains very soon with their unsavoury and empty content if not checked, and fast too.

Ademola Oni

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