Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and founding member of the All Progressives Congress, Buba Galadima, has said that only God and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu know what will happen in the 2027 presidential election, declaring that the political environment is marked by profound uncertainty and that opposition parties are not even certain they will be allowed to present candidates and contest freely.
Galadima made the statement during an interview with Channels Television, where he was asked about the political climate as campaigns approach and the Independent National Electoral Commission released its final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections. "There is a lot of uncertainty in the polity and only God and the president know where the country is headed," he said. His remarks captured the sense of unpredictability that has come to define Nigeria's political landscape less than four months before the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, with the governorship and state assembly polls following on February 6.
At the heart of Galadima's intervention is a claim about President Tinubu's campaign strategy. He said he had learnt that the President was not planning to campaign physically for re-election, believing that the achievements of his administration would serve as his campaign. "Since Tinubu is afraid of competition, he doesn't want anybody to compete with him up to now, as I'm talking to you. That's why we learned he's saying that he's not going to campaign physically. That he has done what he needs to do, and that is his campaign," Galadima said. He added, however, that the President's reluctance to engage in physical campaigning was not a matter of choice but of political reality. "The truth of the matter is that he is not going to be able to campaign physically. Not because he has nothing on the ground to show that he has done anything that would warrant a single vote by any Nigerian, maybe except his wife or children," he said.
The NDC chieftain's assessment is consistent with a pattern of criticism he has levelled against the Tinubu administration and the APC throughout 2026. In April, he declared at an ADC national convention in Abuja that even a corpse would defeat President Tinubu in 2027, saying, "Even if there is no living human being in Nigeria and we bring a corpse in a coffin and put it against President Tinubu, I assure you that that corpse will win the election in 2027." In August, at the inauguration of the NDC's National Reconciliation Committee, he said the President was not thinking of contesting against any opposition candidate and urged Nigerians to unite and vote him out. "Tinubu is only protecting himself and the APC and making it difficult for other parties to produce candidates," he said. "The president is not thinking of a contest with anybody, but we won't allow it. Even if it's an empty coffin, all Nigerians must come together and throw him out for the sake of this country."
Galadima has also accused the APC of being "allergic to democratic competition," alleging that the ruling party destroyed the NNPP and the Labour Party, on whose platforms Rabiu Kwankwaso and Peter Obi ran in 2023, to ensure that Tinubu would be the sole candidate in 2027. He has claimed that the government plants moles and thugs to disrupt opposition primaries and consensus processes, creating internal crises that later require reconciliation. He has further alleged that the APC is the only party confident of contesting because it dictates the direction, influencing the judiciary, INEC and security agencies to enforce its will on Nigerians. "The government of the day and the ruling party have gone to town to destroy all political parties," he said in May. "They want to assure themselves that the only way they can win elections is to have a single candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027."
The APC has consistently rejected these allegations. The Presidency has described similar claims by opposition figures as politically motivated and baseless, pointing to the President's engagement with governance and his record in office as evidence that he remains focused on delivering the dividends of democracy. The APC has also denied any interference in the internal affairs of opposition parties or the operations of INEC, stressing that the commission remains an independent body committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections. President Tinubu has not publicly responded to Galadima's specific claim about his campaign plans.
The context of Galadima's remarks is a political landscape that has been reshaped by a series of defections, realignments and legal battles over the past year. Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress in May 2026, creating a formidable opposition platform with Obi as the presidential candidate and Kwankwaso as his running mate. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar remained in the African Democratic Congress, which he now leads with former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate. The ADC unveiled a 69-member campaign council on Thursday, naming Kashim Ibrahim-Imam as Chairman and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as Deputy Chairman. Meanwhile, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde is contesting on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement, with former DSS Director-General Lawal Daura as his running mate.
The ruling APC has faced its own internal tensions. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has been locked in a dispute with governors elected on the party's platform over his Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party movement he says is designed to mobilise support for Tinubu's re-election while allowing politicians to contest other elections under different party platforms. The APC Governors' Forum, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, has rejected any arrangement capable of undermining the party or its candidates. Wike has responded by describing the governors as "politically lazy" and insisting the coalition is not an APC structure. The controversy has raised questions about the cohesion of the ruling party's campaign machinery as the election approaches.
Galadima's statement that only God and the President know what will happen in 2027 reflects a broader sense of uncertainty that has taken hold across Nigeria's political class. The 2027 election is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in Nigeria's recent history, with a fragmented opposition seeking to unseat an incumbent President who retains the advantages of incumbency and control of the national machinery. The outcome will depend on a complex interplay of factors, including the state of the economy, the security situation, the credibility of the electoral process and the ability of the opposition to present a united front. For now, Galadima's message is one of doubt and warning: the future is uncertain, the opposition is not guaranteed a fair contest, and only God and the President know what the coming months will bring.
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