2027 and politicians’ violent rhetoric

It is not difficult to know someone who is desperate in any contest. For the 2027 general election, it has become obvious that the All Progressives Congress (APC), their members and supporters are afraid of their shadows. Having misruled the country since it came to power in 2015, the party knows that it will be difficult for it to come back to power in a free and fair election. Hence, it is trying everything in the book to bulldoze its way and retain power in 2027.

In recent times, some chieftains of the party have made it a pastime to threaten their opponents. When the heat comes upon them over their threats, they recant and claim they are misunderstood.

Francis Fadahunsi, a senator representing Osun East Senatorial District on the platform of the APC, directed his supporters to kill the Accord Party members in Osun State. That was a few days to the governorship election held in that state on August 15, 2026. Even before Fadahunsi made his threats, about 30 people had been killed in election-related violence in Osun. When condemnations trailed his comments, he said what he meant was that his party members should kill Accord Party members with votes. What a defence!

Nigerians were yet to come to terms with this perfidy when the chairman of Kuje Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory, Samuel Shekwolo, warned residents opposed to the APC to leave the area council. Whatever gave this man the temerity to spew out this nonsense leaves much to be desired.

Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of movement to citizens. For a mere area council chairman to assume an emperor status to the extent of ordering residents who don’t support the APC to leave is the height of insolence.

The Borno State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Sainna Buba, gave a more satanic order. Those who refuse to support the APC in the 2027 election, he threatened, would be flogged and their fingers cut off. Just imagine the impudence! One wonders if these nonsensical statements are to grab headlines or to truly scare opponents.

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, ordered his LG chairmen to mercilessly deal with opposition parties in their respective LGAs. One wonders if this is what he was elected to do. A governor is the father of all, irrespective of party affiliation. Any governor who talks in this manner is not worth being called a governor because such behaviour amounts to an exhibition of idiocy and immaturity. 

The most laughable one was the statement by the Yobe APC chairman, Muhammad Gadaka. Last week, he advised married women to divorce their husbands who prevented them from voting for the APC. He is ready to pay their dowries and marry them. The man later apologized and withdrew his comment.

This type of incitement contributed to the election-related deaths Nigeria has recorded since the 1960s. Over 200 lives were lost, particularly in the South-West, in the first election conducted in 1964/65. In the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, about 80 people reportedly died while about 100 citizens died in 2003. The number of election-related deaths rose to 300 in 2007.

In 2011, over 800 people were killed in a post-election violence that gripped most parts of the North. This was after the late former President, Muhammadu Buhari, claimed he won the election. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner of that election. The National Peace Committee estimates that in 2015, 106 people reportedly died. In 2019, 626 deaths were recorded. In 2023, about 109 people perished in election-related deaths.

It is worrisome that all these violent rhetoric come mostly from one party, the APC. Unfortunately, President Bola Tinubu, who is in a position to call his party men to order, appears to be enjoying the whole thing. He said recently that all is fair in politics. In the run-up to the 2023 general election, he did tell his party people that power is not served a la carte. “You snatch it, grab it, and run with it,” he counselled. So, will someone with this type of mindset sincerely move against violent rhetoric?

Some of these same APC people allegedly instigated the attacks on some opposition party figures in recent times. In February 2026, some thugs attacked the secretariat and event of the African Democracy Congress (ADC) in Benin. The event was the welcoming of defectors from the Labour Party, including the LP governorship candidate in the 2023 election in Edo, Olumide Apata, into the ADC.

A similar gathering of the ADC in Lagos witnessed the same attacks by thugs in September 2025. The thugs invaded the venue of the event in Alimosho LGA and drove away party members who had gathered to welcome defectors into their fold. In Ekiti, Kebbi, Kaduna, Rivers, Osun, among others, similar violence tainted the political atmosphere.

It is not clear what the APC is afraid of. Here is a party that boasts of 31 of the 36 state governors in Nigeria. This means it has structures all over the country. With these structures and a war chest, winning the presidential election in 2027 should be a walkover.

But it’s not as simple as it sounds. Their fear-induced attacks and rhetoric indicate a lack of confidence. The present administration boasts of economic reforms that have renewed the hope of Nigerians. So, why panic? Why should such a behemoth dread seeing smaller parties?

The answer is clear. Given a free and credible election, the APC will fail woefully despite its array of governors and other political stalwarts. It has stepped on the toes of many Nigerians who are waiting for the election day to teach the party a lesson. People know what they want, the overbearing influence of governors notwithstanding.

Osun voters gave a hint of what may happen in 2027. They voted and stayed back to defend their votes. All the threats came to nothing. The invasion of the state by the APC governors on the eve of the election to express support for their candidate came to nothing. The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, blabbed that Accord Party won because Tinubu did not want to use federal power to manipulate the outcome. As if the power to elect officials no longer rests with the people.

The national election may not be as easy as that of Osun because the stakes are higher than in Osun. Election riggers will do everything possible to thwart the will of the people. They will try to use a combination of thugs, security agents, and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to achieve their sinister objective. But Nigerians should be vigilant.    

In any case, why will any sane person vote for a party that has impoverished the masses? Officially, the rate of unemployment is 4.3 per cent. It appears low and underestimates the level of joblessness in the country because of a revised calculation method.

Many youths roam the streets without any visible means of livelihood, but they are counted as being employed. In this category are artisans, petty traders, farmers and over 90 per cent of people who are in the informal sector.

In a recent survey, the SBM Intelligence noted that about 45.3 per cent of Nigerian households experienced business closures, inability to find work, and job losses in 2025. The highest level of economic hardship was recorded in the South-East, which has 66.5 per cent of respondents reporting a job loss, business closure or inability to find work. The government boasts of macroeconomic gains. It generates more revenue now. But how much of this money trickles down to the ordinary citizen?           

The price of fuel has been on the upswing. The last time Nigerians enjoyed reasonable price for fuel was before May 29, 2023. Immediately Tinubu was sworn in, he proclaimed, “Subsidy is gone.” From less than N200 a litre, the price of the commodity jumped to over N1,000 a litre. It has remained in that threshold since then and has had a spiral effect on the prices of other commodities and services.

Many Nigerians have resigned themselves to fate. But they need not despair. They need not fold their arms and lament. They should take their destinies in their own hands. No foreign power will do it for them. Not even the United States President, Donald Trump, who many individuals now believe will come to rescue them.

The Nigerian electorate should emulate the people of Osun. Come out en masse on the election day, vote and defend your votes. If there is overwhelming turnout of voters, it will be difficult for them to change the results of the election.

Perhaps, they will try to use INEC officials at the collation centres to manipulate the results and announce them in some ungodly hours. Perhaps, they will resort to the judiciary to give them favourable judgment using some technicalities. Whatever, let’s play our own part and leave the rest to posterity.