IN April 2025, several Nigerians can’t have three square meals in 24 hours. Others cannot sleep with their two eyes barely closed. Yet, politicians are already engrossed in the politics of the 2027 election.

The World Bank says that 129 million Nigerians live in poverty. “Since 2018, the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line is estimated to have risen sharply from 40.1 percent to 56.0 percent,” the World Bank said in a recent report.

About 63 percent of persons living within Nigeria, which is equivalent to 133 million citizens, are multidimensionally poor, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). About 65 percent of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35 percent (nearly 47 million) reside in the South. Yet, Nigerian politicians aren’t aware of this. Or they pretend not to.

The number of out-of-school children is rising. The number of out-of-school children in Nigeria reached 20 million in 2022 from 18.5 million earlier, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

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Out of this number, the North-West has a total of 8,044,800; the North-East has 5,064,400 and the North-Central has 2,115,800. The South-West has 1,146,900, while the South-South has 431,300. The South-East has 240,200 out-of-school children. The Kanuri, Fulani and Hausa ethnic groups are the worst hit, according to BusinessDay. Yet politicians, especially those from the North, are merely pretending not to know.  

Food insecurity worsening

Nigeria is in danger of food insecurity. More than 60,000 Nigerian farmers were killed by marauding herders, according to Reuters. Most of the herders have been found to be Fulanis but the leadership of Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu hasn’t got a grip on the problem.

As a result, food inflation is high due to the fall in farm output. Nigeria’s food inflation stood at 21.79 percent in March of 2025, according to the NBS. The figure was low due to the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Otherwise, the number could have stood at 35 percent to 38 percent, experts say.

“Food is extremely expensive in Nigeria today. A plate of a healthy food costs as much as N3,000 or more now as against N1000 in 2020. Nigerians can’t afford to buy fruits and vegetables. Pepper and tomato prices have risen by over 100 percent in just one year. Yet politicians are only talking about elections that will happen in two years’ time,” a Oyo State-based farmer, Mr Omotayo Adegbenro, told Economy Post.

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“The president and politicians do not seem to understand that power is sought to benefit the people, not for pesonal aggrandizement.”

General insecurity turns sour

Under President Tinubu, insecurity has soared. About 56 persons were killed in Plateau State in less than two weeks in an attack believed to have emanated from nomadic Fulani cattle herders. Similarly, attacks on Benue communities have led to the death of 56 persons already. Benue State Governor, Mr Hyacinth Alia, gave the figure on April 17 during a visit to two villages that were attacked by gunmen. There have been attacks, kidnaps and deaths across Nigeria in 2025 already, yet politicians are merely interested in the 2027 election.

“It is the hallmark of Nigerian politicians. They do not care about the problems of the people. They are not statemen and stateswomen because they only think about elections, not the state or the people. This is why I advocate that Nigerian politics should be part-time, not full-time,” said a political scientist, Mr Barry Dagogo.

Roll-call of politicians

Amid these challenges, former Kaduna State Governor, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, has not hidden his plans to unseat President Tinubu in 2027. He is wooing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi.

“President Tinubu needs to do something about the discontent in the North. It’s still not too late. He can correct it, but there is palpable anger in the North,” he said at an interview in February 2025.

On his part, Mr Abubakar said earlier this month that the coalition he was putting together to remove President Bola Tinubu from power in the 2027 election was gaining ground.

“Whatever vehicle that will give us good governance in the future of our children and grandchildren, that is the vehicle we are going to ride on,” Atiku said on his X, formerly Twitter.

Similarly, former political adviser to Vice President Kashim Shettima, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said on Sunday that the North would decide who to support in six months, Economy Post reported.

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“In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way. One thing is clear, nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support,” he said in the interview alongside former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf.

A former National Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Salihu Lukman, said in September 2024 that Nigerians booted the military out of power over 25 years ago and will vote out President Tinubu in 2027.

On the other hand, President Tinubu’s supporters are not left out of this game. Nasarawa State Governor. Mr Abdullahi Sule, said on Sunday that the North will support the president’s re-election in 2027.

Also, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Sunday Dare, said recently that his principal will win the 2027 presidential election.

He said this in response to the comments by Labour Party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Mr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.

“Tinubu will win comfortably in 2027, no matter the volume of armchair theories and political conspiracies. His performance will clear the path,” Mr Dare, who just left office as sports minister, said.

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