Former deputy senator minority leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah, has urged politicians to put Nigeria’s interests ahead of their 2027 ambitions, warning that reckless rhetoric and personal attacks could have serious consequences for the country as the election approaches.
Speaking with ARISE NEWS on Monday in an interview, Na’allah said his concern was heightened by reports that President Bola Tinubu had said “everything is fair in politics,” warning that politicians must consider the consequences of their conduct and utterances before and after the 2027 election.
“The idea is an indirect message saying politicians should guard their utterances. They should be very careful and put this country first before whatever ambition.
“I am worried about some of the behaviors I have seen so far as a prelude to the full engagement in the campaign for 2027. On one side, the President was quoted to have said—I have not seen where he said so, but he was quoted—that everything is fair in politics. Then on the other side, I have seen people who have abandoned the country itself and begun to attack a leader without minding the consequences of that personal attack on the country as a whole. The signal doesn’t look too good to me, and it should be a matter of concern to every responsible Nigerian.”
He said the questions would remain relevant through the election and immediately after the results are announced, asking what would happen if the Independent National Electoral Commission declared President Bola Tinubu the winner, or if it declared otherwise.
“With the way things are going on, two questions remain valid—and will continue to remain valid until the day of the election and the day after when the result is announced. That question you can never sweep away: What happens if INEC says Tinubu has won the election? And what happens if INEC says he has not won?”
On INEC’s capacity to deliver a credible 2027 election, Na’allah said the outcome of the Osun governorship election had strengthened his confidence, noting that the presence of about 20 APC governors and the Senate President could not alter the result.
“Taking into account what happened in Osun, I would want to believe that if INEC goes with that trajectory, it will affirm my belief in their ability to deliver.
“The question you should equally ask: If it was true that about 20 governors were there from the APC, the Senate President was there, and all these people were there, and yet an election could be conducted and they lost, then on the day of the general election, will all of these people be in all 36 states at the same time? No. So if that is the case, it means if all of them in Osun could not change what happened in Osun, we keep praying that that same thing will happen in the entire country come 2027.”
Speaking on his decision to remain in the APC after losing his re-election bid to Garba Maidoki in the 2023 Senate election, the lawyer and pilot said his loyalty was rooted in his commitment to the party’s founding ideals rather than the pursuit of elective office.
“There is a difference between people who enter elections for appointments or elective offices, and those who genuinely believe that having taken power from the military, we have a responsibility to put this country in a position where it can earn the respect of one of the largest democracies in Africa. I think that is where I belong. I am not in politics for elective offices. That cannot be a reason for you to leave a party that you have worked for.”
The former lawmaker, however, acknowledged that the APC had encountered serious challenges, saying Nigerians were increasingly unable to feel secure or confident that the country was in safe hands under the current political arrangement.
“But personally, in my own opinion, there is no party since the coming of our democratic dispensation that came with better intentions than the All Progressives Congress. Unfortunately, we ran into so many problems—which we can all see—that took us to where we are.
“We are in a situation where, if you want to be honest and sincere, Nigerians have not found it convenient or comfortable to go to bed and sleep, feeling that their country is in safe hands under the present political arrangement. That is a fact, and nobody can dispute that. That is unfortunate.”
On his willingness to return to elective politics, Na’allah said, “I am available to serve,” but rejected the idea of taking an appointment after his Senate defeat, saying he was not in politics merely to secure positions, while also arguing that returning to a subordinate role after serving as a senator and deputy Senate leader would not represent political growth.
“I am available to serve, and I told the governor even before then, ‘Look, my people said I should come. If I am given the opportunity, I will serve them to the best of my ability, in the same way I did before.’
“When they said I lost—let me even accept that I lost, though I know I did not lose that election. I knew what happened; I knew the game plan. But after that, I was offered an appointment. The government said, ‘We know you very well. If you don’t mind, why not choose…’ In fact, the word used was ‘parastatal.’ I don’t want to mention the person who was sent to talk to me about it. I told him, ‘Well, I have been a senator. I have been a deputy Senate leader. Do I now go back, just because I lost an election, to begin carrying files for a minister? Does that show growth? Does that show responsibility? Am I in politics just to get appointed?’
“I am a businessman. As a lawyer, I can exist if that is the only profession I hold. As a pilot, I can exist if that is the only profession I hold. So why do I have to come down in such a manner as to give the impression—how much are you going to get, and for what?”
He maintained he was less interested in returning to elective office than in contributing to better governance.
“In all honesty, what I want now for the remaining part of my life is for somebody to say, ‘this is the good that we intend to do for this country. What is your opinion on the best way to do it?’
Na’allah further criticised current political leaders for failing to live up to the promises on which they sought office, questioning why former President Muhammadu Buhari could not translate his campaign promises into results and why Nigerians remain dissatisfied with President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” administration.
“Nigerians should be interested: Why was it that with all the things Buhari said, he could not translate them into what he promised Nigerians? Then Nigerians should equally be interested: Why is President Bola Tinubu here, having said we are going to have renewed hope, yet today we have people saying they have not been satisfied with what has been done so far?”
On his position ahead of the 2027 election, Na’allah said he remained an APC member but would respect the choice of his constituents if they decided otherwise.
“Luckily for me, as a democrat, I believe in what my people want, because democracy is a situation where more than half the people should be right more than half the time. Let me be very honest with you: I am APC. If for whatever reason my people believe that APC is not the party they want, there is nothing I can do.”
He also warned leaders against appointing people driven by political ambition, arguing that such appointees would devote more attention to advancing their political ambitions than helping the government deliver on its mandate.
“There is one important thing I must tell that leaders do which runs them into trouble immediately after taking office: Never, as a leader, if God gives you the opportunity to be president of this country, ever appoint anybody who has ambition to come and help you run a country. He will not. 70% of what he will be doing will be in pursuit of that ambition, and he is only going to give you 30%. You cannot use 30% to transcend; that is not going to be possible.”
Reflecting on Nigeria’s condition, Na’allah recalled a conversation about the country’s state, drawing on Shakespeare’s Macbeth to describe a situation where each day adds a new gash to an existing wound, leaving little hope of healing.
“Somebody asked me about the position of the country, and I laughed and said, when one of the servants of the king visited him in Scotland to tell him about what was happening—that’s in Macbeth—he said every day it is as if a new gash is added to an already existing wound. What that means is that the possibility of healing does not exist.”
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