2 weeks Ago By Rapheal
By Obike Ukoh Endorsement of candidates for various elective positions in Nigeria is common practice. Indeed, in many instances, supporters even buy forms for their preferred candidates. All these actions are legitimate, as they do not contravene the laws of the law.
However, the current trend of endorsing sitting officers yet to complete even half of their tenure is generating mixed reactions. Recently, the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) warned its members against discussing anything about the 2027 governorship candidacy for the state. The party also threatened to wield the big stick on any member that fails to abide by its rules and directives.
The party, in a statement signed by the state’s publicity secretary, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, was reacting to a media report indicating that stakeholders of the party had opted for the candidacy of an Egba-born former two-term federal lawmaker for the 2027 race. “For the avoidance of doubt and with all sense of responsibility, the issue of the candidacy for the 2027 governorship ticket of the APC is not on the table of the party and its leaders for now.
“The present preoccupation of the party is to support our performing governor and leader of the party in the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in executing his unfolding legacy projects, which will certainly boost the standing of our party at the next general elections. “While members have the right to project their preferred aspirants, we must be wary of misinformation that may heat up the polity and create needless rumours and rancour. “It is needless to remind members that the party has the established structure and procedure to apply the big stick for those who overstep their bounds.
” At the national level, the media space is constantly inundated with views of supporters and opponents of President Bola Tinubu returning as President in 2027, even when he is yet to complete two years of the mandate given to him in 2023. A group laundering Tinubu’s image, Arewa Think Tank (ATT), asserted recently that the North cannot stop the President’s dream of a second term in office. Former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, said Tinubu must surely serve two terms of eight years.
Fielding questions from journalists after a prayer session for Tinubu’s 72nd birthday at Arewa House, Kaduna, convener of ATT, Mohammed Yakubu, regretted that a northerner was at the helm for eight years without impacting positively on the region. Yakubu said that northerners must tell themselves the truth, put regional sentiments aside and support Tinubu’s second term in office in 2027 to ensure development in the zone. “Why will the North stop Tinubu? How can the North stop him in 2027, after somebody from the North had done eight years? For us to have peace in this country, the North has no option, no alternative than to vote Tinubu for another second term, so that he can do eight years as well.
’’ Also, another northern group, Arewa Progressive Forum for Good Governance (APFGG), tackled Bashir El-Rufa’I, son of former Kaduna State governor, for opposing the return of Tinubu in 2027. Bashir had in a post on his social media handle allegedly predicted that the President would be voted out of office in 2027 for “non-performance”. The group’s chairman, Malam Ibrahim Musa Bichi, in a statement, said that Tinubu was sure of victory, come 2027.
“Those who understand politics know that Tinubu has built a political structure over the years that is helping him to move Nigeria forward in the right direction. “And we don’t see reasons to fight an administration that is determined to make the country a better place to live in,” Bichi said. Tinubu, in his response to these exchanges, stressed that his focus was not on the 2027 elections but on how to make Nigeria great for generations.
Tinubu gave the assurance at the APC South-West Zone assembly held recently at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos State. The event was hosted by the chairman, South-West Governors’ Forum and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The President, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr.
Femi Gbajabiamila, said he was pained by the hardship in the country but gave the assurance that Nigeria would get better. “For every moment in a country, a particular leader is produced for that time. This is the time to produce a leader that is courageous.
“The challenges of our country are diverse and immense. When a man has a strong conviction of what he is doing, he pursues it,” he said, adding that he had love for Nigerians and would continue to listen to them and do what would be good for them. On his part, Dr.
Orji Uzor Kalu, the senator representing Abia North, has been receiving myriads of endorsements from his supporters, admirers and stakeholders across the zone, to return as senator in 2027. Unarguably, the endorsements flow from the heart. Despite that, Kalu recently on his face book page, outlined his focus and concern for now.
He wrote inter alia: “Abia North: My focus right now is not on the politics of 2027, but on the people of Abia North Senatorial District and how to improve their lives because there is hunger in the land. I can’t be talking about politics when my people are hungry. “Though I appreciate all the endorsements from our people at home and abroad, we still have the mandate given to us in 2023.
“My priority at the moment is to deliver more dividends of democracy, put smiles on the faces of my people, and support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other patriotic Nigerians in tackling the issues affecting the progress of our great nation.’’ Prof. Jonah Onuoha of the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), who commented on the early endorsements, stressed that elected leaders should be reminded of their campaign promises.
Onuoha, who is also the Director, Centre for American Studies in UNN, said that re-election will now depend on performance, adding that it is too early to endorse elected political office holders yet to complete half of their tenure. He stressed that energy should not be dissipated now for an elections coming up in 2027. Onuoha said that elected political office holders and their supporters should preoccupy themselves with delivery and fulfillment of campaign promises and democracy dividends.
Onuoha, who was also former Head, Department of Political Science in UNN, described the early endorsements as distraction, emphasizing that Nigerians should continue to hold leaders accountable. “We are not even half way yet of the four years tenure given in 2023, this early attention to 2027 general elections may jeopardise the fulfillment of campaign promises made to the people during the last general elections, “Onuoha added. Prof.
Eugene Nweke, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Ebonyi State University (EBSU) and a professor of Political Science, who spoke on the issue, described the development as a distraction to the public office holder. According to him, an elected public officer should focus more on service delivery based on his campaign promises, while his reelection would be hinged on the evaluation and acceptance by the electorate of his or her performance. “After election, what counts is what the political office holder has done; of course it’s expected that a person who is in office can seek reelection as long as the law allows,” Nweke said.
In his response, Dr Paul Okorie, former commissioner for Works in Ebonyi called for mass sensitisation of the electorate against the dangers of endorsing elected serving office holders before the end of their current term in office. Okorie, a governorship aspirant on the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019, said rather than endorsement, that people should learn to hold their elected leaders accountable and periodically engage them. He explained that the development posed a serious threat to the nation’s democracy, adding that representative democracy was all about carrying the people along and letting them evaluate their elected leaders performances based on their campaign promises.
“When people contest for political office, they make promises of what they will do for the people if elected and I believe that the best thing to do is to track performance of these elected officials and not jumping to endorse them less than six or one year into office. “This is undemocratic and sycophantic. When you put leaders in a tenured office be it president, governor or even local government chairman, you should be able to track and assess their performance within the period of their mandate.
“Endorsing them for a second term while they are still in the early days of their first term leaves them with a poor sense of assessment and to me, this is not democracy and we must discourage that. “When you say that second tenure is guaranteed; no vacancy in Government House, no vacancy in Aso Rock, does it mean that when the leader has not performed that the person should go back? “I don’t support it and this is not the type of democracy practised all over the world,” Okorie said. Similarly, Dr John Otu, a former Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Ebonyi, frowned at the development and described second tenure endorsement for the 2027 general election as undemocratic.
“The development undermines democracy anywhere you see it in the world; I can’t see how a young man should go about talking about second tenure when the current office holder is still less than two years in office. “It doesn’t make sense for people to campaign for second tenure for 2027 election in 2025 except in states like Anambra where governorship election will hold in 2025,” Otu said. Despite the stand of the beneficiaries of the endorsements, galore of endorsements still occupy the media space on daily basis.
Endorsements indeed is not a contravention of the laws of the land, as the nod for another term is usually based on performance and delivery of democracy dividends to the people. As Professor Onuoha and others advised and suggested, the endorsements should not be heightened to the level of distraction. Generally, commending one for a job well done, fits appropriately to the adage, “ one good turn deserves another,’’ but the cart would not be put before the horse.
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