2027 Presidential Campaigns Kick Off Today

Official campaigning for Nigeria’s January 16, 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections begins today, five months before the polls.

President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is seeking a second term with Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate. He faces a partial rematch of the 2023 contest against former Anambra governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), who is paired with former Kano governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose running mate is former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi. A broader field of about 19 candidates includes Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress and Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party.

The election is widely expected to be defined by the dual pressures of economic hardship and insecurity. Tinubu’s administration has pushed through major reforms, including the removal of the fuel subsidy and exchange-rate liberalisation. While these measures have been welcomed by some economists and investors, they triggered a sharp rise in living costs. Inflation peaked near 34 percent before easing to 15.4 percent in July. World Bank data shows more than 60 percent of Nigerians now live below the poverty line, up from 40 percent in 2019. At the same time, armed banditry, jihadist activity and other forms of violence continue to affect large parts of the country, particularly in the North and Middle Belt.

A day before campaigns opened, leading candidates signed a National Peace Accord organised by the National Peace Committee. Obi used the occasion to stress the need for a credible process, saying Nigerians should ensure that “people’s votes will count” and urging the public not to support anyone who violates the agreement.

Identity and regional considerations are already influencing early political positioning. Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, who recently won re-election under the Accord Party, has publicly endorsed Tinubu for a second term. Adeleke has framed his support around shared Yoruba and Southwest identity, describing the president as “our own son, father and leader” and noting that Osun is Tinubu’s ancestral home. In recent comments he said his decision was based on the fact that Tinubu is “a Yoruba man” from the South-West and that the region should give him another chance “to develop his reforms,” particularly ongoing federal infrastructure projects such as major roads. Adeleke has denied any private political deal and pledged to campaign “big time” for the president.

With the opposition split across different platforms and the APC controlling most governorships and the National Assembly, Tinubu enters the campaign period with clear structural advantages. The next five months will test whether widespread economic pain, persistent insecurity and competing regional loyalties can overcome those advantages or simply reinforce the fragmented outcome of 2023.