Vice Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has cautioned political parties against assuming that controlling more than 30 state governments will automatically secure victory in the 2027 general election.
kwankwaso spoke on Thursday at the NDC Town Hall Meeting in Rivers State, where he argued that the performance of governors, rather than their numbers, could significantly influence the outcome of the election.
The former Kano State Governor said some governors, particularly in the North, had performed so poorly that they might find it difficult to campaign openly for their parties ahead of the polls.
He also cited previous elections as evidence that an incumbent government could lose despite having control over several states, warning politicians not to rely solely on the number of governors backing their party.
He said, “The sitting president lost the election. I’m giving you an example, especially those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That is a very big mistake.”
Kwankwaso, who did not specify the election he was referring to in the excerpt, further predicted that several Northern governors would face difficulties campaigning for their parties because of what he described as their poor performance in office.
He said, “By the grace of God, all of them, especially the ones in the North, because I studied the trend. The trend is those governors and their party have performed woefully to the extent that it is very difficult for them even to come out and campaign.”
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The NDC vice-presidential candidate also questioned how state governments and the Federal Government had managed public resources, arguing that government revenues had risen substantially compared with previous years without a corresponding improvement in the living conditions of Nigerians.
Reflecting on his experience as governor in 1999, Kwankwaso said states and local governments were receiving about N4bn each at the time.
He alleged that although governments now receive considerably more revenue, the increase had not translated into meaningful development for citizens.
“Now in one year, we have seen it on social media that our government collected over N1.11tn, just less than one year. You go around, what have you done with that money? Close to nothing,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the alleged failure of governments to deliver improved living conditions had contributed to growing public frustration, while insecurity remained one of the country’s most pressing challenges, particularly in the North.
“And people are very angry. And this anger is bad, and worse is the issue of insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria,” he stated.
The video of the town hall meeting was shared on X by user ChuksEricE.