Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, says President Bola Tinubu would require a miracle to win re-election in 2027, citing widespread discontent with his administration.
Speaking during an interview on Prime Time, a programme on Arise Television, El-Rufai urged Nigerians to reflect on their quality of life since Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023.
“We have to ask the people to make up their minds. Do you like what is happening? This is just two years. If your life has gotten better since Tinubu was sworn in, fine. But if not, why not give some other people a chance?” El-Rufai said.
He revealed that internal polling by his team across different regions of the country shows a sharp decline in Tinubu’s popularity. According to him, the president has a 91 percent disapproval rating in the north and south-east, and 78 percent even in Lagos, his political stronghold.
“This is a scientific poll,” he noted. “In some states in the south-west, like Ondo and Ekiti, he’s doing slightly better than the 78 percent disapproval in Lagos. But nowhere is he above 50 percent approval—not even in the south-west.”
El-Rufai described the Tinubu administration as a complete failure, accusing it of worsening economic conditions, collapsing the security architecture, and lacking coherent policies on trade, industry, and investment.
“The guy is gone; he has performed miserably. The economy has tanked, the security architecture has failed, there are no clear trade, industrial, or investment policies—everything is going wrong,” he said.
He also raised concerns about transparency in public finances, noting that despite an increase in revenue collection, there are no visible improvements in governance or public services.
“They are raising lots of revenues, but we don’t know where the revenues are going—because there are no results,” he said.
El-Rufai is part of a high-level opposition coalition seeking to dislodge Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election. Other key figures in the alliance include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, and Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate.