As 2027 Elections Approach
To the average Nigerian, the 2027 presidential elections may still be a long way away. But not so for the ruling party, APC, and in particular, Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is a man well known for his vision and ability to plan long term. He does not like fire brigade approach to issues. He likes to plan well ahead to forestall all possible obstacles that could be hurled in his path to schieving his desired goal. The President understands very clearly the consequence of failing to plan ahead, especially when it comes to politics. His victory at the last presidential election did not come on a platter of gold, it was the result of careful strategic planning that started several years before the election ever took place. This is why Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is widely regarded as the Master Political Strategist of all time.
Several weeks after the ruling party, APC, emerged victorious at the polls, and the party leadership and followers were still basking in the euphoria of their hard fought triumph over very strong opposition in PDP and Labour Party, the president was already reviewing the major areas where the party failed to win at the election. Two of such areas were Kano and Abuja. The NNPP won Kano while the Labour Party won Abuja. These two are significant parts of the country the president wishes to win in 2027 and is already making plans towards actualising that goal.
Rivers state is also a state very dear to Mr. President. Months before the presidential election took place, no one could’ve imagined that the President would win in Rivers, a state that was hitherto a PDP state. But with the help of Nyesom Wike, the current FCT Minister, who was, and still is embroiled in a very messy battle with the PDP leadership in the state and at the national level, President Tinubu won Rivers State, a shocking outcome that stunned not just political pundits, but the PDP members in the state. Now, the President is already looking to consolidate on the ruling party’s grip of the state come 2027 election.
How is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu hoping to achieve this? How is he planning to win in Kano and Abuja come 2027? What are his strategies? Have his plans started to take shape? According to City People findings, Mr. President has already set his plans in motion and so far, they are looking very good. Let us tell you the bit we found out about the President’s strategies for these two states, Kano and Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
For Rivers State, the President’s joker still remains Nyesom Wike. You do not change a winning formular, right? But this time, Mr. President will be relying on a handful of some of Rivers APC chieftains who were divided within the party at the time the presidential elections held last year. What this means is that these top chieftains worked at cross purposes last year. But that will not be the case come 2027 as they have all mended fences and have agreed to work together to achieve results for the party in the state. This reconciliation of course, had the hand of the president written all over it. Now, the next step is to get the state’s APC to convince Wike to join the party. And they are serious about it. They have been making intense overtures to this effect.
Just a few weeks ago, the Rivers State leadership of the All Progressives Congress said it wants the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to join its fold to help the party win the presidential election for Bola Tinubu in 2027.
The State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Okocha, stated this during a one-million- man solidarity March for Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda’ in Port Harcourt on Thursday. Okocha, described Wike, as a political strategist who cannot be ignored in Rivers State politics, adding that the immediate past governor has a midas touch. He further said if the FCT Minister joins the party it will be easier for him to win elections for Tinubu in Rivers State, as the President will seek reelection after completing his first term in office.
Hear him: “Wike is the leader of the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ in Rivers State. Wike was responsible for the victory of the Tinubu election in Rivers State. Wike is a reformer and he is our leader in Rivers Sstate.”
Explaining why Wike’s picture is on the banner of the party, alongside President Tinubu, Okocha said, “This is not an APC event. This is Renewed Hope, Mr. President’s family in Rivers State.
“Wike is the game changer, he has a Midas torch and you remember that we have been wooing him to come over to to help us. This is again one of those attempts to woo him to come over to APC and help us so that we will continue to win the elections for Mr President, particularly when elections come for 2027.
“A time came in Rivers State when we could not campaign for our presidential candidate using the party platform upon which he emerged because we were threatened by the entire leadership of APC in Rivers State.”
He added, “They told us that the man we were supporting Bola Tinubu, was too old and that he had become senile. How can we support a man who will die any moment soon, that he was at the departure lounge?
“They said to us that we were supporting a man who is medically unfit and was using all the social media platforms to paint him as someone who defecates on himself. I want to state here that President Tinubu is the best thing that happened to Nigeria
“Rome was not built in a day. Nigeria suffered setbacks- political, economic, socio-cultural and we have a leader who just came on the throne for nearly one year. “Can he possibly upturn the mistakes of 30 or 50 years in one year? So it’s a process and the process began the same day he took the oath of office. The President was very clear when he said that he wanted to fix Nigeria and he said that fuel subsidies were gone. “Today states, federal, and local government areas are packing money in billions for the development of the State. I am aware that the first and biggest project that will transverse the length and breadth of Nigeria is being carried out under Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
He said that the role Wike played in the victory of Tinubu in the 2023 election in Rivers State cannot be ignored stressing that the party needed him to play the same role for Tinubu in 2027. Interestingly, sources close to the oresidency have squealed that the game plan by the president is not necessarily to have Wike leave PDP to join APC, instead, he prefers Wike to remain in PDP and continue to play the spoiler, weaken the party’s structure in the state and work closely with APC chieftains in Rivers to win the state for the president.
Another part of the country Tinubu is desperate to win is the Federal Capital Territory. Mr. President wants the FCT badly. He did not appreciate one bit the hue and cry that erupted over the victory of the Labour Party winning the FCT last year and what the Electoral Law said about whether the FCT had some special status conferred on it that other states do not have or not. It even got to a ridiculous point where the Labour Party siupporters were insisting the Laws said whoever did not get the majority votes in the FCT cannot be declared the winner of the presidential election. The back and forth on the matter and the attention it attracted at the Supreme Court hearing is one both the President and the ruling party would not like to go through again. So, what did Mr. President do? He took a critical look at the FCT landscape and realised that if he could transform FCT before 2027 election, that could be the game changer for him, that would be his ticket to winning the election.
The next step would be finding the right man that could help him actualise his dream of the new, transformed FCT. He looked around and concluded the best man for the job, yet again, is the immediate past governor of Rivers State who helped him win the state, Nyesom Wike. What many do not know is that Tinubu did not just come up with Wike’s name simply to compensate him for his contributions to his electoral victory last year, he was intentional about the choice of Wike as FCT Minister. He needed somebody that could do a fantastic job within the next couple of years and help him win Abuja in 2027 and he realised that Wike was the man for the job. And in just nine months after his appointment as minister, Wike has more than delivered. He is clearly motivated and determined to help the president win Abuja.
Everybody knows that before President Bola Tinubu assumed the reins of governance, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was faced with the challenge of abandoned projects. The Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda was, however, expected to, among other things, complete ongoing projects and transform the FCT into a more habitable and economically vibrant city.
When Nyesom Wike was appointed Minister of FCT in August 2023, he vowed to deliver on Tinubu’s mandate and administer the territory in compliance with the Abuja Master Plan. According to him, it will be achieved through the establishment of an effective service-oriented administration that will respond to the needs of all residents and other stakeholders.
He noted that Abuja had witnessed foundation laying ceremonies of several structures worth billions, only to be abandoned midway or at advanced stages of their construction. The minister particularly pointed out that some of the contracts were awarded in 2007, some in 2011, while others were awarded between 2015 and 2017, but all abandoned. To turn the tide, the minister summoned all the contractors handling different projects in the FCT to a meeting to know what the problems were and how to get them back to site. “Our problem is funding,” the contractors lamented assuring the Minister that they would get back to work if they were mobilised.
Eventually, Wike got most of the contractors back to site after agreeing on a payment plan with money from the FCT Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and budgetary allocations. He equally introduced new innovations and enforced the payment of outstanding ground rents and other taxes in the FCT, a decision that increased the territory’s revenue generation significantly. The minister also secured the approval of Tinubu to withdraw FCTA from Treasury Single Account, to enable the Administration to access funds from financial institutions to fund projects.
To ensure quality and timely delivery of the projects, Wike personally inspected the execution of the projects and kept the contractors on their toes.
Nine months later, the Wike-led FCTA has announced the completion of numerous projects some of which were pencilled for inauguration to celebrate Tinubu’s one year in Office. One of the completed projects is the construction of the official residence of the Vice President, which was awarded in 2010 but abandoned.
Another project was the rehabilitation of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit (ARMT) system, now ready for commercial operations, access roads to the train stations and parking lots. Also completed was the extension of Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) from the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) to the Southern Parkway, made up of 3.8km length of 10 lanes expressway.
The ISEX enables east-west movement on the southern flank of the city, linking the Abuja – Keffi highway.
The full scope development of the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) from Villa Roundabout to Ring Road 1 Junction, including four interchanges was also completed. The OSEX is the primary road bounding the Federal Capital City (FCC) on the southern flank, connecting the city with the Kaduna – Abuja–Lokoja Federal Highway.
The project, being developed in phases, involves full scope development of about 6.7km of 10 lanes of the expressway from Villa Roundabout to Apo Roundabout.
The construction of the Southern Parkway from the Christian Centre to Ring Road 1 was equally completed.
The project consisted of the construction of 5.4 km length of the road, made up of two main carriageways of four lanes each, and two service carriageways of two lanes each, making a total of 12 lanes.
It also includes the construction of four interchanges, with eight bridges in addition to other facilities. The Southern Parkway traverses the city centre, linking the outer fringes and inner portions of the city Expressways.
Also completed was the B6 (Constitution Avenue)/B12 (Independence Avenue) roads in Central Area, spanning from the Circle Road in the Three Arms Zone to the National Stadium, and linking the Central Area with the Airport Expressway.
Wike also completed the interchange bridge, linking Wuye and Wuse I District under the provision of Wuye District Infrastructure project.
The full scope development of the Arterial Road, N-20, from Northern Parkway (Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Expressway) to Outer Northern Expressway (Murtala Mohammed Expressway) was also partly completed.
The project involves the development of about 5.6 km of road with interchanges at Kubwa and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Expressways, made of two main carriageways of three lanes each, making a total of six lanes.
The list is almost endless. And the man, Wike, is not resting on his oars. He still works round the clock to ensure that he meets his set goals and targets for the FCT. This is why the President regards him as his most performing minister so far. He commended him at the unveiling of all the abandoned projects Wike completed in just 9 months and thanked him for bringing life back to Abuja. Already, many FCT residents are singing the praises of the minister, commending him for a fantastic job done so far. And from the encomiums being showered on the president and the party in Abuja, it is safe to say that FCT is a done deal for the APC and Mr. President come 2027.
Everyone knows how important Kano State is to any presidential candidate. After Lagos State which tops the list with 7,060, 196, the next state with the second highest number of registered voters is Kano State with 5,921,370. That is a figure no presidential candidate can joke with. And this is why Mr. President wants to win Kano in 2027 at all cost. And he has begun to set his plans in motion.
Two men are sharing the hold on Kano State, they are Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso and Abdullahi Ganduje, both former governors of Kano State. Kwankwaso is with NNPP while Ganduje, of course, is with the APC. He is currently the APC national chairman. Tinubu needs these two political gladiators on his side to win Kano State, but these two illustrious Kano sons do not even see eye-to-eye. Apart from belonging to two different parties, they can’t just stand each other. They can barely stay together under same roof much less work together. The very intense conflict between them has been very well documented. The once upon a time enviable relationship has broken down irretrievably. The two had enjoyed for several years a boss and deputy relationship that appeared unbreakable. They were a politically formidable pair that seemed made from heaven. Together, they held Kano firmly in their grips. Their word was Law. They had legions of followers who rooted for them. They had supporters who could take a bullet for them. But suddenly, in a very swift manner, everything thing changed. Everything about their relationship began to crumble like a pack of badly arranged cards the minute Abdullahi Ganduje emerged governor of Kano in 2015 and Kwankwaso handed over the reins of power to him. Yet, Mr. President needs to keep both of them in his corner.
At the last presidential election, Kwankwaso, who was the presidential flag bearer for the NNPP, showed he holds the political bragging rights in the state when he won Kano at the presidential polls, despite all efforts by Ganduje to clinch the state for Asiwaju. This victory put to rest the cointroversy as to who calls the shots in the state with the highest number of supporters. Presently, the governor of Kano state, Abba Yusuf, is a Kwankwaso protégé. He does whatever his mentor, Kwankwaso tells him to do. And with the solid grip the NNPP has over the state, having won the legal tussle between the two parties (APC and NNPP) at the upreme Court, it is only logical that Mr. President is starting to look in the direction of Kwankwaso if he, Mr. President, still holds any strong desire to win Kano state come 2027.
This explains why, at a point, speculations were rife that Kwankwaso was set to be named a minister. This came as no surprise to many who already could see the handwriting on the wall and could tell that President Tinubu was doing everything he could to woo Kwankwaso over. That whole ministerrial appointment plan fell apart when Ganduje began to raise dust over the proposed appointment. In fact, he stormed Aso Villa the same day Kwankwaso was at the Presidential Villa to meet with the President. Ganduje was to address the nedia in the day and swore he would’ve slaaped Kwankwaso if he ran into him at the Villa.
A lot has happened between then and now, the latest being the reinstatement of Sanusi Lamido Sanui as the Emir of Kano. This clearly had the approval of Mr. President and Ganduje, expectedly, is not happy about it because he, it was, who deposed Sanusi and replaced him with Ado Bayero whom Kwankwaso, through his protégé, the governor of Kano state, has also sent packing from the palace. Many would be wondering why the President would take sides in the matter, it is all about 2027! The President is is very intentional about his moves and decisions. He knows excatly what he needs to do to sway Kwankwaso and his hordes of supporters to his side. But first, he needs to buy and earn the trust of Kwankwaso, and that is exactly what he is doing. And from what we see, Mr. President is on course!
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
