Public affairs analyst Jide Ogunsanwo has said President Bola Tinubu’s fate in the 2027 presidential election will be determined largely by northern governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Ogunsanwo made the assertion while analysing the political implications of the just-concluded Osun State governorship election during an interview on ARISE News on Friday.
He said the APC’s current structure, particularly the number of northern governors in the party, makes their political support more significant to Tinubu’s 2027 prospects.
“The APC currently is no longer what it used to be. Yes, 31 governors, but out of the 31 governors, 18 of these governors are from northern Nigeria, so the APC pretty much is a northern political party.”
Ogunsanwo compared the voting strength of the southern and northern states currently controlled by APC governors during the 2023 presidential election.
“To put this in number terms, you know, there’s 13 APC governors in the south that everybody keeps talking about. If you look at how much votes these 13 APC states give to Nnombu in the 2023 election, the fact shows 2.4 million from these 13 states that have APC governors.”
He added: “What about these 18 northern states that have APC governors today? 5.4 million votes.”
Drawing from the figures, Ogunsanwo said the numerical advantage of the northern APC-controlled states would be crucial to Tinubu’s re-election bid.
“So the point I’m making here is the President’s fate isn’t going to be determined by the southern APC governors. The President’s fate will be determined by the northern APC governors.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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