Vice Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has warned political parties not to assume that controlling a large number of states will guarantee victory in the 2027 general elections.
Kwankwaso said the performance of governors, particularly in the Northern part of the country, could become a major factor in determining how voters would behave at the polls.
The former Kano State governor stated this on Thursday at the NDC Town Hall Meeting in Rivers State.
He argued that some governors had performed poorly and might find it difficult to campaign for their parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
Kwankwaso said the experience of previous elections had shown that controlling several states did not automatically translate into victory at the presidential level.
He therefore cautioned politicians who were relying on the support of more than 30 governors to secure electoral victory.
“The sitting president lost the election. I’m giving you an example, especially those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That is a very big mistake,” he said.
The former governor predicted that some governors, especially in the North, could face difficulties convincing voters to support their parties because of what he described as poor performance in office.
“By the grace of God, all of them, especially the ones in the North, because I studied the trend. The trend is that those governors and their parties have performed woefully to the extent that it is very difficult for them even to come out and campaign,” he said.
Kwankwaso also questioned how governments at the state and federal levels had used the increased revenue available to them in recent years.
He recalled that when he served as governor in 1999, states and local governments received about N4bn each.
According to him, government revenues have increased significantly since then, but the improvement has not been reflected enough in the lives of Nigerians.
“Now in one year, we have seen it on social media that our government collected over N1.11tn, just less than one year. You go around, what have you done with that money? Close to nothing,” he said.
The NDC chieftain said the alleged failure of governments to address the challenges facing Nigerians adequately had increased public anger.
He added that insecurity, particularly in Northern Nigeria, had further worsened the situation.
“And people are very angry. And this anger is bad, and worse is the issue of insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria,” Kwankwaso stated.
