The Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected claims by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can be defeated in the 2027 general elections.
The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, expressed confidence that the APC would retain the presidency and win the governorship and other elective positions in Kaduna State, dismissing suggestions that the ruling party was losing support in northern Nigeria.
Musa spoke on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, several hours after Obi and Kwankwaso told supporters that they would resist any attempt to manipulate the 2027 elections.
Obi warned that voters would defend their ballots at polling units, while Kwankwaso argued that controlling a large number of states would not guarantee victory for the APC, citing the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
Responding to suggestions that voters in Kaduna could punish the APC and Tinubu over the administration’s performance, Musa described reports of widespread rejection of the party in the North as a matter of perception.
“That’s a perception. It’s a perception, and I mean, everybody has his own perception to deal with. People will always have the good, the bad, and the ugly,” he said.
Asked whether the APC could lose Kaduna State in 2027, Musa was unequivocal.
“I cannot say cannot lose. APC will win in Kaduna. That I know,” he said.
When asked if he was referring specifically to the governorship contest, the minister replied: “Definitely. Presidential, governorship, and all levels.”
Musa, who is from the North, also rejected suggestions of growing anti-APC sentiment in the region.
He said some individuals were seeking to exploit public dissatisfaction for political purposes.
“That’s why I said there are some people, because probably they are not where they think they are, the tendency is they want to whip up sentiments. APC is this, APC is that,” he said.
The minister also defended the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, saying the President had taken difficult decisions whose benefits would become increasingly apparent.
“But I can tell you this, the President has taken very painful decisions, and I can tell you these are decisions that are coming in gradually,” Musa said.
He argued that Nigerians would eventually understand the reasons behind some of the government’s economic decisions.
“I mean, you can look at the economy and all these things, we’re coming in gradually. At a time, people will now realise that, look, this thing we thought was like this, this is actually how it’s going,” he said.
Musa concluded with a prediction that the APC would retain power.
“And I can tell you, APC will win,” he said.
Obi, Kwankwaso Rally Supporters
Earlier on Thursday, Obi and Kwankwaso told their supporters that they would not be intimidated or allow their votes to be subverted during the 2027 elections.
Obi spoke at a town hall meeting with voters in Port Harcourt tagged “Obi Talks Nigeria”, where he said voters would resist attempts to prevent their ballots from being counted.
He argued that it would be unrealistic to expect the 2027 election to be manipulated in the same manner he alleged occurred during the 2023 poll.
“Nobody will intimidate us again at the polling booth,” Obi said.
He pointed to the relatively small number of officials typically assigned to polling units compared with the number of voters, arguing that voters could collectively protect the integrity of the process.
“The average number of voters is 40 to 50. There’s no way five people will intimidate 50 people,” he said, adding that his supporters would organise themselves to prevent intimidation.
Obi also expressed concern about possible manipulation of results through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), saying alternative systems would be available if technical problems affected the platform.
“There will be so many IReVs this time. This time around, if there is a network glitch, we will give them another one that has no glitch,” he said.
Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform, finished third behind Tinubu and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Tinubu was declared the winner after securing 8,794,726 votes, ahead of Atiku, who polled 6,984,520, and Obi, who received 6,101,533 votes.
Tinubu also met the constitutional requirement of securing at least 25 per cent of the votes in at least two-thirds of Nigeria’s states.
Obi subsequently alleged that the 2023 election was affected by manipulation and intimidation of his supporters. He and some of his supporters have continued to maintain that he won Rivers State and the presidential election.
Kwankwaso Challenges APC
Kwankwaso, the NDC vice-presidential candidate, urged Nigerians to make what he described as the right choice of leadership in 2027.
He argued that Nigeria required a strong, energetic and committed president with the experience necessary to address the country’s challenges.
Kwankwaso warned voters against repeating what he described as past mistakes, saying the consequences of choosing inexperienced leadership could be costly for the country.
“I believe that Nigerians must not make mistakes again. This is the time to get it right,” he said.
He also dismissed the argument that the APC’s control of more than 30 states would guarantee victory in the presidential election.
Citing the 2015 election, Kwankwaso noted that Jonathan had been the incumbent president when he lost the election.
“Jonathan was the president, the sitting president lost the election. I’ve given you an example, especially those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That was a very big mistake,” he said.
Kwankwaso further claimed that some APC governors in the North were unpopular because of their performance in office.
Rivers NDC Candidate Speaks
Meanwhile, the NDC governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, thanked party members for their resilience and commitment.
Lulu-Briggs pledged that the party would work towards building what he described as a Nigeria that works, while assuring the party leadership that its supporters in Rivers State were prepared to campaign for its candidates.
“We want to thank you for your sacrifice. I want to assure you that we shall have a Nigeria that works,” he said.
APC Rejects Opposition Claims
The APC dismissed the claims by Obi and Kwankwaso as “cheap talk” and wishful thinking.
The party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, told The PUNCH on Thursday that the opposition politicians had failed to consider previous elections in which incumbent presidents and their parties had retained power.
“Talk is cheap, and they are poor students of history. Buhari was a sitting President and won re-election and his party won under him. Maybe they are suffering from partial amnesia,” Basiru said.
He also questioned the organisational strength of the NDC, claiming that the party did not have governorship candidates in at least 12 states and lacked National Assembly candidates in many constituencies.
“Presidential election is not won on empty rhetoric or wishful thinking. We are confident that Nigerians will re-elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Basiru said.
