Why Nigerians Can’t Afford To Sit Out 2027 Polls – NDC

The Nigeria Democratic Congress National Campaign Council (NDC-NCC) has said that the country’s growing debt burden, particularly in light of new loan requests by President Bola Tinubu and the obligations being passed on to future generations, makes the 2027 general election too important for the citizens to sit out.

Consequently, the council called on Nigerians to turn out in large numbers for the 2027 elections and use their votes to demand accountability, fiscal responsibility and a government that puts the people’s interests first.

President Tinubu had asked the National Assembly to approve a new external borrowing plan of $7.7 billion (approximately N10.79 trillion) to help finance the 2026 budget deficit, a development the NDC-NCC described as “a case of one week, new loan.”

The spokesperson of the NDC-NCC, Dr. Constance Ikokwu, in a statement, appealed to Nigerians to turn out massively and vote for the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and his running mate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on January 16, 2027, just as Americans demonstrated the power of the ballot in their November 4, 2026, elections.

She observed that Americans, like Nigerians, were grappling with the high cost of living and economic hardship. However, rather than merely grumbling or resigning themselves to their circumstances, they turned out to exercise their democratic rights, demonstrating that the power to change a government ultimately rests with the electorate.

Ikokwu urged Nigerians to emulate Americans, whom she described as champions of democratic participation, by coming out in their millions to vote for Obi and Kwankwaso.

“Truly, it seems that right now, we cannot stop President Tinubu from his One Week! New Loan! One Week! New Loan! borrowing spree, which is already hitting the roof because, regrettably, he has pocketed the National Assembly. We seem to have a rubber-stamp legislature where, before a loan request formally gets to its desk, it has already been endorsed.

“But Nigerians should not despair. The ballot remains our most powerful instrument of change. We appeal to citizens to use their votes to rescue the country from this debt trap and entrust its future to a government committed to transparency, accountability and prudent management of public resources,” she said.

The NDC-NCC reiterated that the country’s economic future must not be mortgaged through unsustainable borrowing and the mismanagement of public resources.