ARISE News Director of News and Politics Editor, Sumner Sambo, has called for greater focus on issues affecting Nigerians as political parties begin preparations for the 2027 general election.
Sambo, who spoke during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, said the composition of President Bola Tinubu’s proposed All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council must reflect the interests of Nigerians and avoid individuals whose inclusion could damage the administration’s image.
The APC had announced a presidential campaign council comprising almost 500 members before the list was recalled for review.
Commenting on the development, Sambo said the size of the council appeared unwieldy, while noting that the review could provide an opportunity for the Tinubu administration to demonstrate that it had listened to concerns surrounding the composition.
“It’s normal when you are actually the president of the country and then you’re seeking re-election for a lot of people to want to join your campaign team.
“But you will see the balancing that we have there. He’s choosing a northern senator, former governor, to actually drive his campaign. Former Governor Yari, of course, is a very wealthy man.
“Since 2015, you will see that whenever the APC is trying to compose its team, the campaign DG, it usually chooses someone that’s very wealthy, influential, that can be able to actually offer some monies or look for monies for the campaign team.”
Sambo cited previous APC campaign structures, including the roles played by former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2015 and 2019, and former Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong in the 2023 campaign.
He also compared the APC’s approach with campaign structures used by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in previous elections.
“In 2015, we had Rotimi Amaechi, then governor of the oil-rich state of Rivers State, being brought in by candidate Muhammadu Buhari then. And then, of course, in 2019, when he was going for re-election, he retained Rotimi Amaechi.
“But you will see that in 2023, Tinubu tried to bring Governor Simon Lalong then of Plateau State. But it looks like that arrangement wasn’t so very much comfortable because they didn’t really allow him to operate that much.
“But this time around, Tinubu seems to be going back to that formula of getting someone who has a rich network to be able to drive the campaign entirely.”
Sambo said the APC’s campaign structure also appeared to reflect the traditional North-South balancing formula that has characterised major political parties in Nigeria.
“There’s always that North-South balance. So when you have a Northern president, he actually chooses someone who is from the South. And then when you have a Southern president, he chooses someone who is from the North to create that balance.
“And you know, APC keeps telling us that it’s running away from the PDP template. But I mean, from the issues of zoning to the issues of campaign DGs and all of that, you will see that they just seem to be following that guide that PDP has set at the outset of democracy.”
He said the size of the proposed campaign council was also a concern, particularly because the APC is the governing party.
“The composition of the campaign itself, I’m thinking that it’s too large for such a campaign for a government that’s already in power.
“And then, of course, for those who are in need, I mean, President Tinubu will send a very, very wrong signal if he’s having those who have had one issue or the other with the anti-graft agencies being included.
“And I think that this review is very much necessary to help his own image.”
On the renewed debate over petrol subsidy removal or retention, following comments by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Sambo said the central issue should be the welfare of Nigerians and how any subsidy policy would benefit the people.
“I think I would want to commend Atiku Abubakar for the conversation that he has brought up.
“You can see that the APC campaign team has been brought in place and the federal government right now, they are running around trying to provide answers on the issues of the petrol subsidy.
“Should we have a return to the issue, to petrol subsidy or not? And I think this is what Nigerians will be looking at. Whether we should go back to petrol subsidy being paid or not and the mode of that petrol subsidy.”
Sambo, however, said Atiku would need to provide Nigerians with greater clarity on how his proposal would work, particularly given the problems associated with the former subsidy regime.
“I think Atiku Abubakar should be held by the neck to explain to us what it means to go back to that problem that we used to have, which were defined as a national problem, where we used to have lots of fuel queues.
“Is that what he’s trying to bring us back to or not? What the campaign says, he can’t take us back to that kind of situation. And Atiku is trying to clarify what he’s trying to bring is a system where he supports refineries.”
He said the debate should be broadened into a national conversation involving political leaders and elder statesmen.
“I think we need to have a national conversation. That’s why I’m calling on people who are the elder statesmen and all of that to put their voice into this debate, because this is a campaign of issues now that both parties have brought into place.”
Sambo also questioned whether the savings from subsidy removal had sufficiently translated into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
“The federal government must account for all the monies that have been brought in place because under Obasanjo, we could see palliatives that were put in place out of the four plans that they had, they had executed two.
“And you could see things that were put in place. Even under Abacha, we had PTF. And then when Obasanjo came with his own plan, we could see some palliative measures, though he didn’t remove it totally. And under Jonathan, we saw SHIP.”
He questioned the impact of the government’s existing intervention programmes, including the Renewed Hope Initiative.
“Now, in this administration, can we say in all honesty that the Renewed Hope Initiative has actually tackled that issue of the first subsidy removal?
“Because people are saying that the Renewed Hope Initiative is just a blanket campaign slogan that was able to reach out to everyone. But it does not specifically talk about the fuel subsidy savings on how it has been able to be deployed.”
Sambo also raised questions about the reach of some government programmes.
“When you talk of NELFUND, for example, NELFUND, it’s made up of loans. Students will definitely pay back.
“And then you talk about the conditional cash transfer. How many Nigerians are actually receiving it? Yes, they said ₦25,000, and the TVET, that programme that they put in place, is being given. But lots of Nigerians, I mean, I don’t know if you know any young Nigerian that has been receiving that.”
He said the opposition would also need to provide more convincing details about its alternative policies.
“But now I can tell you that Atiku needs to do more to convince Nigerians.
“If the ADC is bringing this as a campaign strategy to actually take power, nonetheless, it needs to convince more Nigerians on how it needs to go about this.
“Because, for example, we have seen that this fuel subsidy savings and removal, it has favoured the elites more than it is favouring the people.”
Sambo also criticised the growing involvement of religious leaders in political campaigns, warning that political parties should focus on issues affecting Nigerians rather than religious endorsements.
He was reacting to reports of the involvement of hundreds of Islamic clerics in endorsing Tinubu.
“For the issues of the imams that you raised, APC should be careful not to drive us into a religious conversation.
“They had accused Peter Obi of trying to go to the Christian minorities, trying to reach out to the Christian clerics. I hope this is not where they are also going to.
“Because by bringing 500 imams to endorse the president, what does that add to the conversation? Does that change the price of petrol? Does that change the price of food items on the streets?
“So we must not go back to this religious narrative because even the APC itself is being accused of being a more Muslim-majority party than a Christian-majority party.
“And I don’t think we should allow religion to drive this conversation.”
He said the focus should instead remain on bread-and-butter issues, particularly employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
“Let’s allow the issues that actually dominate us. And then, of course, as Nigerians are beginning to get into the campaign season, what I’m interested in is the issues that we have, the issues of job creation for young people.”
Sambo said young Nigerians would be central to the 2027 election and should scrutinise the programmes and records of all presidential candidates.
“Young Nigerians will begin to question each of the presidential candidates. What is the Tinubu’s campaign agenda for the next four years on job creation? Because a lot of our youth don’t have job opportunities that are open to them.
“Peter Obi is asking them to take more interest in governance just the way they do with football. And I think it’s a very good proposition because the youth constitute a large majority of those that will be voting.
“And so, if these issues are being brought before them, they should look for the candidate that has their desires at heart to be able to scrutinise their policies.”
He also questioned the number of jobs created under the Tinubu administration since 2023.
“How many jobs, for example, have been created by the Tinubu administration between 2023 and 2026 going to 2027 that we are in?
“I have thought that the Tinubu administration will be presenting the card to Nigerians at the moment. They said they have young people in government in terms of political positions that have been given to them. But are they key decision-makers in the government?
“Look at the Minister of Youth, for example. Look at the youth conference that Tinubu has said he was going to call for young Nigerians to come and discuss the problems of the nation and so on.
“I have expected that the young people will continue to tax the APC on why that national youth conference has not held and what President Tinubu will do going forward. But we haven’t had so much on those conversations.”
Sambo said the opposition parties would need to develop stronger structures and strategies if they hope to challenge the APC in 2027.
“The opposition should be very careful not to take the APC for granted because the structures for winning the election are properly being put in place by the governing party compared to the opposition political parties.”
He said the governing party was already building political structures ahead of the election.
“Under the APC, you can see that they are facing the heat, but the APC seems to have some very good structure, like the City Boy movement that they’ve set in place.
“And then you can see that the president’s wife is really working very hard to rally the women.”
Sambo also said the composition of opposition campaign teams would be crucial, particularly if the parties were serious about appealing to younger voters.
“The composition of the presidential campaign teams by Atiku Abubakar, by Peter Obi and other presidential candidates must incorporate young people because they are the ones who bear the brunt of the economy at the moment.
“And I think it’s very important for us to reason along with them.”
He added that the planned opposition summit could provide an opportunity for opposition parties to explore a possible alliance ahead of the 2027 election.
“Ahead of, I think, Monday’s summit, when the Salihu Lukman team will be bringing together all the opposition parties to see whether they can form a formidable alliance.”
Boluwatife Enome
Follow us on:
