2027: Controlling 30 Governors Won’t Guarantee Victory — Kwankwaso

The vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has warned political parties against assuming that having more than 30 governors under their control would automatically translate into victory in the 2027 general elections.

Naija News reports that Kwankwaso argued that the performance of individual governors, rather than their numerical strength, could prove decisive when Nigerians return to the polls.

Speaking at an NDC town hall meeting in Rivers State on Thursday, the former Kano State governor claimed that public dissatisfaction with some administrations was strong enough to make campaigning difficult for affected governors.

A video from the event was subsequently shared on 𝕏 by a user identified as ChuksEricE.

Kwankwaso drew attention to previous elections in which incumbency and control of several states failed to prevent the ruling party from losing power.

He said, “The sitting president lost the election. I’m giving you an example, especially for those who think because they have over 30 governors, they cannot lose the election. That is a very big mistake.”

The former governor maintained that voters could reject candidates despite the political machinery available to their parties.

Turning his attention to the North, Kwankwaso claimed that some governors in the region had failed to deliver sufficiently for their constituents and could face resistance during electioneering.

He said his assessment was based on what he described as prevailing political trends across the region.

The former governor 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.”

The NDC vice-presidential candidate also questioned how increased government revenues had translated into development at the federal, state and local government levels.

Drawing a comparison with his first tenure as Kano governor, which began in 1999, Kwankwaso recalled that considerably smaller amounts were available to governments then.

He claimed that despite the substantial increase in revenues available to governments today, Nigerians were yet to see corresponding improvements in infrastructure and living conditions.

He stated, “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.”

The former governor further argued that dissatisfaction over governance and economic conditions was fuelling public anger ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, insecurity has compounded the situation, particularly across northern states where communities continue to grapple with security challenges.

“And people are very angry. And this anger is bad, and worse is the issue of insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria,” Kwankwaso said.