Amid growing national outcry over worsening poverty, hunger, and widespread dissatisfaction with the President Bola Tinubu-led government, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday made a controversial declaration, anointing Tinubu as the “sole candidate” for Nigerians in the 2027 presidential election.
Akpabio made the declaration at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Summit held in Abuja, themed: “Renewed Hope Agenda: The Journey So Far.”
Despite a nationwide climate of economic hardship and unrest, the Senate President praised Tinubu’s leadership, hailing what he described as the president’s “political sagacity.”
Declaring Tinubu as the sole candidate of the APC and the Nigerian population in 2027, Akpabio mocked opposition political parties over escalating internal crisis ravaging them, saying that all other political parties in the country have been turned into shreds.
“The political sagacity of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in view of the fact that despite very difficult time, he has been able to set Nigeria on a path of growth, confirmed by the International Monetary Fund,” Akpabio declared.
His remarks, however, stood in stark contrast to the realities on the ground.
Across Nigeria, citizens continue to grapple with rising food prices, escalating inflation, and deepening poverty.
Since Tinubu assumed office in 2023, the removal of fuel subsidies and currency devaluation have contributed to economic instability, with millions of Nigerians pushed below the poverty line.
But despite these conditions, Akpabio continued his endorsement, saying, “In view of the fact that Nigerians our grassroot people are very excited; in view of the fact that even the members of the National Assembly, senators said they have never had it this good, the leadership of the House of Representatives of APC extraction should join me and re-echo;
“I want to move, and let it be moved that not only President Bola Tinubu be a sole candidate for the presidency in 2027, but he will also be a sole candidate for the whole Nigerian population, because all other political parties have been turned into shreds.”
The Senate President did not stop at mere political support but openly mocked the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing its supposed collapse in the South-South region.
“I went to my village and I saw the umbrella of the PDP and it has 100 holes. Very soon you will hear. I’m not the one to break the news but our national chairman has already broken the news that everything in the South South has collapsed for you,” he said.
Akpabio further added, “That is the same thing that is happening in the nation. Nigerians are saying that because you have done a difficult job well, it is time for us to reward you by sending you back to the presidency for a second term in office.
“I move therefore, as the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that Mr. President be returned, one, as a candidate of the APC unopposed, and secondly as the next president for a second term come 2027.”
Supporting Akpabio’s declaration, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, echoed “I stand on behalf of the entire 109 senators, 360 members (of House of Representatives), and all the 36 speakers (of House of Assemblies) and their members, to second this very important motion moved by the Senate President.”
While the APC leaders celebrated what they framed as political unity, civil society groups and opposition voices have warned against the erosion of democratic plurality and rising authoritarian tendencies in the ruling party.
As the economic crisis deepens, many Nigerians are calling for urgent reforms, not political coronations.