REUBEN ABATI
“I appeal to each one of you to remember that political participation places obligations on those who organize others. Keep your engagements peaceful, and your message issue-based… reject violence, threats, intimidation, misinformation, and every form of electoral conduct”. These were the wise, fitting and relevant words by Vice President Kashim Shettima in the month of September 2026 while formally inaugurating the National Working Committee of Transporters for Tinubu/Shettima 2027. He could well have been talking to all supporters of the Tinubu/Shettima ticket and everyone else involved in the struggle for political office in the 2027 elections under whatever party platform. His admonition was also on all fours with the objectives of the National Peace Committee, which on August 18, 2026 got political parties, their chairpersons and presidential candidates to sign an accord to act after the fashion of gentlemen and respect the same principles outlined and reiterated by Vice President Shettima in September. In recent instalments in this column, (Oct. 27, Nov. 3, 2026), we have given a sketch of the resort to violence, threats, and intimidation by Nigeria’s combative political elite, noting the danger that this poses to the integrity and credibility of the 2027 general elections with corresponding impact on voter turn-out and post-election legitimacy questions that may arise. The additional note is the pervasive reign of abuse, competitive rhetoric, character defamation, absolute lack of respect for the other or political ethos which would appear to have overtaken the Nigerian landscape, 59 days to the first election, the Presidential and National Assembly elections having been scheduled for January 16, 2027. The closer we get to the elections, the more febrile the rhetoric. Political rhetoric is part of the condiments of electioneering or political campaigns, edifying when it is constructive, but lamentable when it collapses to the level of a street-fight with all decorum thrown to the winds. It then becomes difficult to know exactly what the politician is selling to the public, noise or reason, propaganda or issues, as in that mix, every participant tries to outdo the other. It is most unfortunate that this is where we are at the moment in Nigeria and even Vice President Kashim Shettima who has asked for an issue-based campaign, has found himself also descending into the arena of vitriol, a variant of “bolekaja politics” which was more or less elevated to the status of statecraft during the Obasanjo years.
The Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar is a denizen of those old-time battlefields, and it should not be surprising that he was the first to set the stage for the current rise of combative politics. In August 2026, he fired up the space by dismissing Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy as a wrong-headed policy which has impoverished Nigerians, and were he to win the Presidency, fuel subsidy would be restored. He pooh-poohed Tinubunomics as a system of “fiscal sedation and rascality.” The Tinubu Presidency did not waste time in firing back, dismissing Atiku’s statements as “a demonstration of serious ignorance on governance and economy.” Atiku’s hitman, Phrank Shaibu, also fired back with his acidic pen. What could have been a robust debate of Tinubunomics, for the benefit of the public, and a necessary review of the administration’s reforms soon became a shouting match. In subsequent interventions, Waziri Atiku Abubakar began to refer to the President at every turn not as Tinubu or President Tinubu, but simply Bola. He affected a tone of familiarity, that was entirely dismissive, to convey the impression that he does not recognize Tinubu as President. When the commentariat observed that this was disrespectful to the office of the President, Atiku’s aides smeared pepper on an open wound by insisting that “the President’s name is Bola”, and those who found that offensive were guilty of illiteracy. Even in the United States, those who try to get familiar with President Trump, either call him Mr. President or The Donald, as he was known in “The Apprentice”, a 2004 television series on NBC. The attack on President Tinubu by the Atiku camp and the ADC was sustained. In African communities, respect matters a lot to the people, and certain positions attract specific levels of reverence which must be openly demonstrated. Besides, African leaders are monarchs of some sort, they relate with others as the overall boss, the ruler, not as equals. Each time Atiku refers to the President as “Bola”, he breaks the code. The Bolanization of President Tinubu has since placed the Tinubu team on a war-path with the Atiku camp. In October, Rotimi Amaechi, Vice Presidential candidate of the ADC following in his Principal’s footsteps, declared in Edo State that “only a mad man will vote Tinubu in 2027” He added: “If Edo people vote for Tinubu, that means Edo people are mad. If you are not mad, Tinubu should not win here.”
In this war of words, there has been quite a competition, as to who can outsmart the other. Senator Adams Oshiomhole, one of the key campaigners of APC extraction has been very vocal. He has described Peter Obi, the NDC Presidential candidate as “a trader” whose business is “to export jobs, and import unemployment to the country”, a shop-owner who wants to run Nigeria, and yet he could not fix Anambra state for eight years when he was Governor. He calls Rotimi Amaechi a “serial loser,” “failure”, “shallow and unreliable”. As he puts it: “Amaechi has been a serial loser, very, very stubborn. He was a Governor who came into office without winning an election…Amaechi is a failure. He cannot benefit from other people’s abuse and pass it off as his own achievement…. hungry, ruthless individuals, shallow, unreliable”. Amaechi has since asked Senator Oshiomhole to make his educational certificates available for public scrutiny, and that he, Amaechi led the team that kicked away Oshiomhole when he was Chairman of the APC and he was still a member of the ruling party. Oshiomhole could not have spared Atiku Abubakar, the ADC Presidential candidate who has become a thorn in the flesh of the APC and President Tinubu, and who despite a Justice Peter Lifu judgement nullifying his emergence as the ADC flagbearer, has continued to insist that he remains a candidate, and that no one can stop him from that happening. Oshiomhole says “Atiku is a serial loser. He has been felled four times and he is completely broken with internal pollical bleeding.” Chieftains of the two leading political parties have been the most vociferous in the combat of verbal assault in the 2027 electoral process, but other presidential candidates and their agents have been no less aggressive. Omoyele Sowore, leader of the African Action Congress (AAC), insists he is determined to take back Nigeria from the ruling class.
When he and his supporters were attacked recently in Ado Ekiti, on October 30, Sowore protested that “It was not just a random attack. Tinubu’s aide and inlaw were involved in my attack in Ekiti.” He has also refused to back down on his various characterizations of the President “as a criminal” , a matter that is in court and only just yesterday, his lawyers got Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, presiding judge in Sowore’s defamation case, to subpoena Tinubu’s election documents in 1999 and 2023, and for INEC to make same available to the Federal High Court in Abuja. The matter has been adjourned to November 11, 2026 for further proceedings. Adewole Adebayo, Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has dismissed President Tinubu in these words: “Tinubu is not a mistake, he is a punishment.” He adds: “Tinubu is not just breaking the pot. He wants to break the pot, cart the pieces away and set the entire kitchen on fire.” He also says: “Tinubu should wear a mask of shame”. Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State, Presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), a former Tinubu supporter turned adversary, has joined the anti-Tinubu group by dismissing the APC campaign team as a “Necbuchadnezzar Coalition of discredited and failed politicians.” He says what he calls “Tigunomics” is nothing else but voodoo. He tells Tinubu “win fair and square if you can.”. There are other players also in this game of competitive rhetoric: There is former Governor, Senator, and Minister of Works, Dave Umahi who has rechristened himself “Lion of the South East, a fanatical Tinubu supporter, who tells us that “Peter Obi can never be South East’s best”. However, Mr. Peter Obi, candidate of the NDC has said publicly that he will never abuse President Tinubu or any other political office holder, but he has been consistent in tearing into the Tinubu’s administration’s policies. His slogan is that a New Nigeria is POssible. According to him: “I cannot abuse any governor. I cannot abuse anybody in government. I don’t need to abuse people in the Federal Government. I’ve never abused anybody. Who has seen me calling Tinubu’s name? Never! I will never do that. He’s the President of the country, he has all my respect… But I can argue on other issues, whether you’re doing well, or you’re not doing the right thing. That is allowed.”
Peter Obi is probably an exception to what has become the norm in Nigeria’s political discourse: the on-going competition to be the man with the most memorable attacks on the opponent. The prize for that at the moment should go to the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, who is standing out as the man with the bon mot, and the most entertaining put-downs in the political arena today. In the lead up to the 2023 election, he had advised former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to consider selling popcorn and ice cream because “nice men do not make good leaders.” He has overreached his own accomplishments in political rhetoric this time around and his main target is Peter Obi, the NDC Presidential candidate. Obi may be modest and less contrarian but he is backed by an army of irreverent, abusive foot-soldiers on social media and in the streets who make it impossible for even those who respect him to overlook his shortcomings. He receives much collateral damage as a result. At the inauguration of the APC Presidential campaign Council in Abuja in October, VP Shettima dismissed Peter Obi, “my very good friend” as “a master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”. He further said: “He seems convinced that a size 36 shirt tailored for Bangladesh will somehow fit Nigeria’s size 52 frame.” And that for claiming he won the 2023 Presidential election without evidence, “this is called delusion of grandeur.” Three days ago, at the APC Rally in Akwa Ibom, VP Shettima accused Peter Obi of squandering away his “political goodwill” with falsehoods and statistics.” In Port Harcourt on Saturday, November 7, Shettima dismissed Obi again as “having philosophised himself into political irrelevance”, with Obi’s reputation as Governor of Anambra State or Chairman of a Bank for being “at best mediocre.” The Vice President also didn’t leave out the flagbearer of the ADC, Atiku Abubakar whom he previously referred to as a “sanitary inspector”,, “Dubagari”, also a Kachalla and now, he says Atiku is “intellectually malnourished,”, receiving poor economic advice from “voodoo economists.” He had previously called Atiku a serial presidential election loser, comparing him to Kenyan politician, the late Raila Odinga. Shettima has also reminded Atiku Abubakar that the Presidency of Nigeria is not “a retirement benefit!”
The curious thing is that President Tinubu himself seems to have joined this strategy of insults to overwhelm the opposition. In his campaign rallies in Uyo and Port Harcourt, the President descended into the arena as he dismissed both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi in very uncomplimentary terms. He more or less called Atiku a thief. He dismissed Obi as incompetent. And he concluded by saying both men do not have enough ability to lead Nigeria. “They lack the leadership, character and traits.” He quipped, referring to Obi: “He ran away from erosion in Anambra, and he now wants to be President? President of where?” Nigerians tend to remember the tirades of the season trying to figure out which is more entertaining or more memorable. But this campaign should not be all about rhetoric. In the face of the expletives and strong personal exchanges, the key issues about the future of Nigeria and how best to move the country forward are swept under the carpet. An election campaign should not be a circus. It should be an opportunity for reasoned engagement which empower the people to make an informed choice in a credible and fair process. Nigerian politicians should learn from the recent American midterm elections. President Trump was very good at abusing his party’s opponents or those he disliked -in Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Georgia. When it came to the vote, Americans voted on the issues and gave control of Congress to the Democrats, including Rep Ilhan Omar who won in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District and Abdul el-Sayed, the Senator-elect from Michigan. Nigeria’s 2027 election process raises many questions of leadership, the quality and non-quality. Nigerians should not get carried away with the drama of politics, because when the drama is over, what remains will be the realities of our lives.