By May this year, the present political dispensation at both federal and state level would have spent two years in office. Already, the political atmosphere is getting unusually charged as activities preparatory to the 2027 general election seem to be dominating national discourse.
Politicians across the divide are grouping and regrouping with such intensity as the clamour for positions assume a frenetic pace.
Surprisingly, appointees of the presidents, who are yet to make any major impact or accomplish the mandate of the president are at the forefront of this race.
Some have already jumped the gun to declare their governorship ambition.
Also, some serving governors, in their second term, whose performances are far from satisfactory, are eyeing the presidency.
Similarly, those who perceive themselves as professional politicians also want to serve at the National Assembly as senators.
To actualise their ambition, most have turned the heat on the current occupants of such positions. As this politicking persists, governance is relegated to the background.
Sadly, all these are playing out when the ordinary citizens, who they claim to represent, are facing the worst times of their lives.
With inflation, insecurity, kidnapping, armed robbery, joblessness and ritual practices becoming the norm because they are not the priorities of the leaders, life remains miserable for the common people.
Yet, the leaders’ pre-occupation is how to get another term in office, or anoint a successor and corner public funds to win the next election.
The frenzy with which they are doing this is either to outsmart their potential rivals or win the sympathy of party leaders so as to clinch the tickets.
While some appointees of the president are secretly pursuing their aspiration, the minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, has announced his ambition to be the next governor of Bauchi State.
His foreign affairs counterpart, Yusuf Tuggar, yet to give hint on his next political direction, has become the attack dog of the president in the face-off between Governor Abdulkadir Bala Mohammed and the presidency over the Tax Reform Bills.
Another minister, who has not yet spoken out on his ambition, is also fingered in the political crisis in his home state over who controls the local government funds as the stage gets set for the direct disbursement of allocations to the grassroots government under the financial autonomy granted that tie of government by the Supreme Court.
Very soon, Nigerians will know that the purported autonomy for the councils will be a mere transfer of loyalty and control from the governors who have refused to allow the LGs to breathe to the federal government.
The battle for the soul of the LGs in Osun State is all about 2027 with the local governments as the bride of the politicians.
In the cases cited above, what are the scorecards of the ministers involved? The healthcare sector remains in shambles. The authorities have no solution to the brain drain in the sector.
The same goes for foreign affairs. Nigeria’s foreign missions have no ambassadors for over a year, rents have accumulated in those places while officials are owed several months’ salaries, their children are out of school. There are litigations everywhere and judgement debts hanging on the missions
These are the politicians who want to serve their states and the nation in 2027 after failing in their current national assignments.
As a newspaper, we are not opposed to any Nigerian appointee seeking an elective office.
We are, however, against using their power of incumbency and access to the commonwealth to pursue their political ambition.
Our position is further strengthened by the fact that such ministers and other appointees nursing such ambitions will no longer concentrate on their job.
The temptation to use national resources to secure the support and loyalty of party leaders and members is also very rife.
Furthermore, the loyalty and devotion to the goals of the president cannot be guaranteed even though they attribute their ambition to working for the president and securing their states for him in 2027.
Against this backdrop, we demand that such appointees resign their offices with immediate effect and concentrate on their political ambition.
If they refuse, the president should sack them to create a level-playing ground in the states. It will also ensure that no one drops the president’s name as his anointed candidate.
For the governors aspiring to be president or preparing their successors, we charge their Houses of Assembly and the anti-graft agencies to take special interest from henceforth on how resources are appropriated, mobilised and utilised.
The measure, in our opinion, will prevent them from embarking on frivolous and wasteful projects as well as diversion of public funds.
The security agencies should also monitor the activities of such appointees to ensure that they do not use their positions to stoke the political turf of their states and make them ungovernable.
To the governors, they should refrain from persecuting their perceived rivals and denying them access to public facilities such as airports, stadia and others for landing and from holding their empowerment programmes. After all, the facilities were built with public funds for all Nigerians whether they are indigenes of the states or not.
All actors and intending ones in the 2027 electioneering must play according to the rules of the game, which are the hallmarks of democracy.
