Sani mocks opposition over ‘waiting at home’ as APC courts influential clerics

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

Former Kaduna Central Senator and 2027 All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate, Shehu Sani, has said the ruling party is gaining ground by actively courting influential Islamic clerics while some opposition politicians are allegedly “waiting” for religious leaders to come to them.

Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the Eighth National Assembly and is seeking a return to the Senate on the APC platform, said politicians seeking power must understand the importance of personal engagement with influential religious and grassroots figures.

His remarks are likely to fuel debate over the growing role of religious leaders in Nigeria’s electoral politics, particularly in northern states, where prominent clerics command large followership.

“The leading Islamic clerics with mass followership are increasingly endorsing the Presidential candidate of the ruling party.

“The ruling party is visiting them at home and appealing for their support,” Sani said.

He claimed that the ruling party had also demonstrated willingness to apologise to influential figures, where necessary in its effort to secure their support.

“Where they hurt them, they will say, ‘we are sorry.’ The other candidates are waiting for the clerics to come to them,” he said.

Sani argued that such an approach could prove politically costly for candidates who rely primarily on their programmes, personal popularity or social media presence while neglecting face-to-face political mobilisation.

“Anyone who knows the art and science of politics knows that it doesn’t work that way.

“It doesn’t matter how good, brilliant or competent you are, once you are seeking power, you must be humble,” he said.

The former senator said some influential individuals might not be primarily concerned with the ideological positions or manifestoes of politicians, but with whether they are recognised and treated with respect.

“There are people who don’t care about your principles and programmes or vision or even your promises; they just want you to recognise them, appreciate them and treat them with dignity and respect,” he said.

He particularly dismissed the assumption that a large social-media following automatically translates into electoral influence, arguing that politics is ultimately about organised networks capable of mobilising actual voters.

“An area boy who has a control of 200 votes is more relevant than a young man with millions of followers on social media; talk less of a religious cleric,” Sani said.

The comments came as politicians across Nigeria intensified consultations and grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections, with Sani himself having formally returned to the APC and obtained the party’s nomination and expression-of-interest forms to contest Kaduna Central.

Sani said candidates who remain at home or depend heavily on online campaigns risk misunderstanding how electoral mobilisation works at the grassroots.

“One is visiting the clerics and the other doesn’t care; the result is predictable,” he added.