2027: Galadima Questions Poll Credibility, Doubts Tinubu Will Ensure Fair Play

A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has raised concerns over the credibility of Nigeria’s next general election, asking whether the 2027 polls will be free, fair, and transparent.

Galadima expressed the concern while speaking on a breakfast programme on News Central TV on Friday, where he criticised the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as actions that do not suggest readiness to provide a level playing field for political competition.

According to him, the major concern ahead of the 2027 election should not be the movement of politicians to the ruling party but whether the electoral process would be credible.

“I’m one of those that are not worried. What I am worried about is not the movement of certain individuals or governors to the ruling APC. What I’m worried about, would there be a free, fair and transparent election? That is my worry and that should be the worry of every Nigerian because it does not seem that this government is prepared to provide a level playing ground for politics,” he said.

Galadima, a long-time political ally of former Kano State governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said it was disappointing that Tinubu, who spent many years in the opposition before becoming president, was not doing enough to strengthen democratic practices.

“If one knows the president very well, it is very disappointing because having gone through opposition throughout his life, one could have thought that he would be foremost person in promoting democracy, promoting democracy, seen to be promoting democracy, promoting democracy, which actually he’s not doing.”

He further accused the presidency of using state power to pressure political actors to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“And he’s trying to poach, he’s trying to intimidate using apparatus of state and force people to join his party. That is very, very disappointing. And for one, I really take exception to what the president is doing.”

Despite these concerns, Galadima expressed confidence that Tinubu would lose the 2027 election if the polls are conducted credibly.

“But once, let all the governors, six of them, plus the president, be in the APC. Once there is a free, fair and transparent election, I assure you that President Bola Tinubu will not be the president of Nigeria in 2027.”

Responding to questions about internal crises within the NNPP, Galadima rejected claims that the party was divided or built solely around the personality of its leader.

He insisted that the Kwankwasiyya Movement, associated with Kwankwaso, is not a personal enterprise but a political movement with broad support.

“First, the Kwan Kwasiya movement is not a personalized estate of Senator Rabi Musa Kwan Kwaso. In every organization, in every institution, you must have a leader, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement worldwide.”

Galadima also alleged that the ruling party was responsible for crises within opposition parties across the country.

“There are no divisions. It is the APC and the government of APC at the center that is inducing crisis in every political party in Nigeria.”

He warned that Nigerians should be concerned if the three arms of government appear to be working together in a way that undermines democratic checks and balances.

“You should be afraid that when the three arms of government connive and become one, we the people are those that will suffer. And this is exactly what it’s doing.”

Galadima further argued that safeguarding democracy should not be left to politicians alone, stressing that citizens must actively defend the democratic process.

“We shouldn’t think that it is only politicians that would try to sort out these issues. These are things that will concern every Nigerian. Every Nigerian must have a stake, every Nigerian must have a say, and every Nigerian must express an opinion on democracy because there would be no democracy without an opposition.”