By Omeiza Ajayi
Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, has said not all 19 candidates on the 2027 presidential ballot are contesting with the intention of winning.
Olayinka made the assertion on Friday during an interview on Arise News where he examined the crowded field of contenders ahead of next year’s general election.
He argued that the sheer number of names on the ballot was not, by itself, evidence that every contestant believed they could win the presidency.
“So it is not everybody that contests elections that wants to win. There are people that contest elections just to register their presence. For instance, in this 2027 election, we have 19 presidential candidates. Can we say honestly that all the 19 are contesting with the mindset of winning? The answer is no”, he said.
To back his argument, Olayinka pointed to the 2023 showing of the African Action Congress AAC candidate, Omoyele Sowore, whose vote count, he suggested, made clear from the outset that victory was never realistic. “For instance, the candidate of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, had 14,600 votes in 2023. How would that person win the election next year? They know that they cannot win. They are just contesting,” he said.
He extended the same reasoning to the Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC, the party of former Anambra State governor and 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi. “Even NDC, the party of Peter Obi, they know they cannot win the election. They are just contesting to try to register their presence,” Olayinka said.
Olayinka argued that a party’s ability to compete hinged on its grassroots structure and spread across the states, an area where he said the NDC fell short.
“You don’t have governorship candidates in 15 states. You only have in 13. There was an election in Ekiti and Osun recently. NDC did not field candidates. How do you win an election when you don’t have people on ground to canvass votes for you, to manage elections for you?” he said.
He stressed that political parties needed sufficient personnel on ground at polling units to manage election day operations effectively. “In Nigeria today, there are 176,846 polling units. To make good impression on election day, you need at least five people to manage each polling unit for you. We have done elections before, so we know what it is. It is not about making noise”, he said.
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