The presidential running mate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has warned that the support of 30 state governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot guarantee President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2027 presidential election.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, said the performance of many APC governors had been so poor that their numerical strength could not translate into electoral advantage for the President.
He spoke on Thursday during a town hall meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he cautioned the ruling party against assuming that control of more than 30 states would automatically secure victory for Tinubu.
According to him, Nigeria’s political history has shown that the number of governors backing a presidential candidate does not necessarily determine the outcome of an election.
“Jonathan was the sitting president, and he lost the election. Those who think that because they have more than 30 governors, they cannot lose are making a very big mistake,” he said.
Kwankwaso argued that the performance of the governors and their respective governments remained a critical factor that could undermine the APC’s electoral prospects in 2027.
“The trend is that those governors and their parties have performed woefully. It is difficult for many of them to even come out and campaign because, from top to bottom, they did absolutely nothing,” he added.
The NDC presidential running mate said the 2027 contest would therefore be determined by the electorate’s assessment of the performance of the incumbent administration and the alternatives presented by opposition parties.