2027: NIGERIANS MUST EXAMINE FACTS, NOT JUST POLITICAL WORDS
By Hon. Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu
Northern Bureau Chief
September 18, 2026.
As Nigeria moves steadily towards the 2027 general elections, the political atmosphere is already becoming increasingly charged with promises, accusations, counter-accusations and competing visions about the future of the country.
Across the streets, markets, motor parks, offices, universities, farms and social media platforms, Nigerians are discussing the same fundamental question: What kind of leadership and policies can genuinely improve the lives of ordinary citizens?
The question deserves serious attention because the challenges confronting Nigerians are real and cannot be solved by political slogans alone.
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The removal of the petrol subsidy, fluctuations and increases in fuel prices, high food and transportation costs, insecurity, unemployment, weaknesses in education and healthcare, declining purchasing power, infrastructure deficits and pressure on household incomes have become central issues in the national conversation.
The World Bank says Nigeria has made progress in macroeconomic stabilisation following major reforms, but it also notes that poverty remains widespread and that many households have yet to feel the full benefits of economic improvements. The Bank estimates that about 63 per cent of Nigerians were living below the national poverty line in 2025.
The International Monetary Fund similarly reported in June 2026 that conditions remained difficult for many Nigerians, with poverty estimated at 63 per cent and about 27 million people experiencing food insecurity in late 2025.
These figures demonstrate why the 2027 debate must go beyond political personalities.
Nigerians have every right to ask presidential candidates and political parties difficult questions.
What is your economic plan?
How will you reduce inflation without creating another fiscal crisis?
How will you make transportation affordable?
How will you create productive employment for millions of young Nigerians?
How will you improve electricity supply?
How will you secure farms and rural communities?
How will you improve education and healthcare?
How will you attract investment while protecting the interests of ordinary Nigerians?
And, perhaps most importantly, how will you pay for the promises being made?
These are not questions of political hostility. They are legitimate questions in a democracy.
The World Bank estimates that approximately 3.5 million Nigerians enter the labour force every year, making large-scale job creation one of the country’s most important long-term challenges.
Therefore, any presidential manifesto that speaks extensively about youth empowerment should explain precisely how many jobs will be created, in which sectors, through what programmes, with what funding and within what timeframe.
That is the difference between a political slogan and a policy proposal.
Perhaps no economic issue illustrates the importance of examining policies rather than political rhetoric better than Nigeria’s long-running petrol subsidy debate.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration removed the petrol subsidy in 2023 as part of wider economic reforms. The World Bank has described the removal, together with foreign-exchange reforms, as part of measures intended to correct longstanding fiscal distortions and improve macroeconomic stability.
But the policy has also imposed substantial short-term pressure on households through higher transportation, food and production costs.
That tension has now become one of the central issues ahead of 2027.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, now the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has publicly pledged to restore petrol subsidy if elected. He has argued that a form of targeted subsidy could make transportation and living costs more affordable.
That position deserves to be debated on its merits.
At the same time, Nigerians are entitled to ask how such a subsidy would be financed, who would benefit, how leakages would be prevented and how the government would avoid returning to the problems associated with previous subsidy regimes.
This is particularly important because Atiku’s current position represents a change from his publicly stated position during the 2023 presidential campaign, when he argued that subsidy removal was necessary, although he advocated a negotiated and structured approach.
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has meanwhile opposed the proposal to restore petrol subsidy. Reports of his position indicate that he considers subsidy removal necessary but argues that the proceeds should have been better managed and invested.
This is precisely the kind of policy difference Nigerians should examine.
Rather than simply asking, “Who said what?”, voters should ask:
What is the proposal? How will it work? How much will it cost? Who will benefit? What are the risks? What happened when similar policies were previously implemented?.
For millions of Nigerians, the fuel debate is not an abstract economic argument.
It is the commercial driver calculating whether he can afford to continue operating.
It is the farmer paying more to transport fertiliser and produce.
It is the student whose transportation costs consume a significant portion of his allowance.
It is the mother whose food budget has become increasingly difficult to manage.
It is the small business owner whose generator and transportation costs affect the price of every product.
Recent reports have documented petrol retail prices around the ₦1,400-per-litre level in parts of Lagos and Abuja, although prices vary by location and filling station.
The broader economic data reinforce the concern. The World Bank reports that Nigeria’s inflation declined from 33.2 per cent in 2024 to 23 per cent in 2025, while economic growth reached about 4 per cent. But it also stresses that high living costs and poverty continue to weigh heavily on households.
Therefore, politicians should not merely tell Nigerians that fuel prices will fall.
They should explain how.
Will the reduction come through subsidy?
Will it come through increased domestic refining?
Will it come through improved crude oil production?
Will it come through competition among refineries and marketers?
Will it come through cheaper transportation?
Or through a combination of measures?
The Nigerian public deserves the details.
Changing one’s policy position is not automatically evidence of bad faith.
Circumstances change. Economic realities change. New information becomes available.
But when a politician changes a major policy position, voters have a legitimate right to ask for an explanation.
If someone previously supported subsidy removal and now supports its restoration, Nigerians should ask:
What has changed?
If another politician opposes restoration, Nigerians should equally ask:
What alternative will you provide to protect citizens from the immediate hardship caused by high fuel prices?
Neither side should escape scrutiny.
A mature democracy should permit disagreement while demanding evidence, costing, transparency and accountability.
Nigeria’s security crisis must also occupy a central position in the 2027 debate. Banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, communal violence and other forms of insecurity have affected communities, agriculture, investment and economic activity.
The World Bank continues to identify insecurity as a significant challenge, particularly in parts of northern Nigeria.
The question for politicians should therefore not simply be:
“Will you defeat insecurity?”
Every candidate can say yes.
The more important questions are:
How?
With what resources?
What intelligence architecture will be strengthened?
How will the police, military and other security agencies be better coordinated?
How will rural communities be protected?
How will farmers return safely to their farms?
How will kidnapping networks be dismantled?
How will illegal arms flows be addressed?
And how will communities be prevented from becoming recruitment grounds for criminal and extremist organisations?
These are the details Nigerians should demand.
For Northern Nigeria, the 2027 election should also be an opportunity to demand measurable development.
The North does not need political sympathy alone.
It needs functional schools, quality healthcare, agricultural transformation, irrigation, rural roads, electricity, industrialisation, skills development, digital opportunities and jobs.
The region also needs stronger investment in human capital.
For example, instead of promising vaguely to “empower youths,” a candidate could present a programme showing how many young people will receive technical training annually, what industries will absorb them, how financing will be provided and how the programme will be independently audited.
Similarly, instead of merely promising agricultural development, politicians should explain how farmers will obtain affordable inputs, irrigation, storage facilities, extension services, security and access to markets.
Development must be measured by results, not the number of political speeches delivered.
Nigeria is a country of enormous religious, ethnic and cultural diversity.
Muslims, Christians and followers of other beliefs are Nigerians.
Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Kanuri, Ijaw, Tiv, Nupe, Gwari and hundreds of other ethnic communities are Nigerians. No presidential candidate should need to convince citizens that another Nigerian deserves less protection because of his religion, ethnicity or region.
At the same time, allegations that a candidate intends to divide Nigeria, establish a separate country or discriminate against a particular religious or ethnic group should not be treated as established facts without credible evidence.
If such serious allegations are made, the evidence should be presented and independently examined.
Political debate should be based on facts, documents, records and verifiable statements — not rumours circulated through social media.
Nigeria has experienced the terrible consequences of political violence before.
Young people should never be encouraged to attack fellow citizens simply because they support another candidate.
Political disagreement is normal.
Violence is not.
If two Nigerians support different presidential candidates, they remain citizens of the same country.
If one supports APC and another supports ADC, NDC, PDP, SDP or another party, that difference should be settled through argument, lawful political participation and ultimately the ballot box.
The Nigerian Constitution and democratic institutions provide mechanisms for resolving political disagreements.
We must reject any rhetoric capable of pushing young people into violence.
Perhaps the most useful question voters can ask political candidates is:
What did you do when you previously had power?
A candidate who has held public office should be examined through his record.
What policies did he introduce?
What projects were completed?
What was the cost?
Were the projects sustainable?
What mistakes were made?
What lessons were learned?
What would be done differently?
No politician should be judged solely by speeches made during an election campaign.
A person’s record does not automatically determine what he or she will do in the future, but it provides voters with evidence that deserves serious examination.
Another major issue that deserves attention is corruption and public financial management.
Candidates should explain how they intend to fight corruption beyond establishing committees and making speeches.
Will government procurement become more transparent?
Will public contracts be published?
Will government expenditure be subject to stronger independent scrutiny?
Will recovered assets be properly documented?
Will public officials be held accountable regardless of political affiliation?
And importantly, will government revenue be used for the purposes for which it was appropriated?
The public has a right to demand answers.
The 2027 election should not become a contest between North and South, Muslims and Christians, one ethnic group against another or one region against another.
Nigeria’s problems do not stop at state boundaries.
Inflation affects Nigerians across regions.
Insecurity affects communities across regions.
Unemployment affects young people across regions.
Poor electricity affects businesses across regions.
The need for quality education affects every Nigerian family.
The demand for accountable leadership is national.
Consequently, Nigeria needs a political conversation that asks what can unite citizens around practical solutions.
One way of improving political debate is for candidates and political parties to present detailed, costed manifestos.
For example, if a candidate promises to reduce petrol prices, let the candidate explain the mechanism and cost.
If a candidate promises millions of jobs, let the candidate identify the sectors and funding sources.
If a candidate promises free education, let the candidate explain the fiscal implications.
If a candidate promises massive infrastructure development, let the candidate identify the financing model.
If a candidate promises to restore subsidies, let the candidate explain how subsidy fraud and leakages will be prevented.
This approach would move Nigeria’s political conversation from “who is talking?” to “what exactly is being proposed?”
The 2027 presidential election will have consequences far beyond the political class.
Nigeria is a country of more than 200 million people, with the World Bank estimating the population at about 237.5 million in 2025.
The election will therefore affect farmers, workers, traders, students, business owners, civil servants, professionals, pensioners, women, young people and future generations.
This is why Nigerians should resist the temptation to vote based solely on anger, hatred, fear, religion, ethnicity or regional sentiment.
Citizens should study the candidates.
Read their manifestos.
Listen to their speeches.
Examine their records.
Check their previous statements.
Compare their proposed policies.
Ask how much their promises will cost.
Ask where the money will come from.
And, above all, ask how those promises will be implemented.
The 2027 election should not simply be about who can deliver the most attractive speech.
It should be about who can present credible answers to Nigeria’s most difficult problems.
Who has a clear plan for security?
Who has a credible economic programme?
Who has a practical strategy for employment?
Who can improve education and healthcare?
Who can strengthen agriculture?
Who can promote industrialisation?
Who can protect national unity?
Who can strengthen institutions?
Who can fight corruption through systems rather than slogans?
And who can demonstrate how government policies will translate into better lives for ordinary Nigerians?
These questions should be directed to every candidate and every political party, regardless of political affiliation.
Nigeria does not need politics driven by rumours.
Nigeria does not need politics driven by hatred.
Nigeria does not need politics driven by religious or ethnic suspicion.
Nigeria needs politics based on evidence, ideas, accountability and peaceful democratic competition.
Let us therefore make 2027 a period in which Nigerians demand answers rather than slogans.
Let us do politics with evidence, not rumours.
Let us debate policies, not hate one another.
Let us examine records, not merely campaign promises.
Let us defend democracy, not violence.
The future of Nigeria does not belong to politicians alone.
It belongs to every Nigerian who will exercise his or her civic responsibility and participate in the democratic process.
The ultimate power of democracy lies not only in the politicians seeking votes, but also in the citizens deciding what questions to ask before giving those votes.
Nigeria deserves a political culture in which promises are measured against plans, plans against resources, and resources against results.
May God guide Nigerians towards wisdom, strengthen the unity of our nation, and grant Nigeria peaceful, accountable and purposeful leadership.
Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu
Journalist
September 18, 2026
Contact: 08060017934
DemocracyNewslineNewspaper, September 18, 2026
