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Nigeria’s 2027 presidential race began on Wednesday, against a backdrop of persistent economic challenges and security issues in Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria is reeling from years of economic turmoil and violence by terrorists and other armed groups.
The election, scheduled for January 2027, is expected to be dominated by high inflation and President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.
Afolabi Adekaiyaoja, author of the Nigerian politics newsletter The Bellwether, told AFP that the economy would be the biggest issue in the election.
“The economy is the biggest issue. That’s the one thing that cuts across different parts of the country and it continues to affect security and development concerns,” Adekaiyaoja said.
Tinubu, who was elected in 2023 to succeed former President Muhammadu Buhari, introduced several economic reforms that have drawn mixed reactions.
He ended decades of fuel subsidies on his inauguration, a move that sent the prices of goods and services soaring.
While many economists and investors have praised the reforms, many Nigerians have criticised the administration over the cost-of-living crisis that followed.
Poverty, which predated Tinubu’s administration, has continued to affect millions of Nigerians. More than 60 percent of Nigerians now live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, up from 40 percent in 2019.
Beyond high inflation, insecurity continues to plague the country.
Ladd Serwat, senior Africa analyst at conflict monitor ACLED, said violence had increased since 2024, “driven by the spread and intensification of armed banditry across northern and central Nigeria” and escalating conflict in Borno State, the centre of the jihadist insurgency.
Tinubu, one of Nigeria’s most experienced politicians, is seeking a second term under the ruling All Progressives Congress, which controls the National Assembly and 31 of the country’s 36 governorships.
Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress ADC are among the leading opposition figures challenging President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential race.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, who received about six percent of votes in the 2023 election, has teamed up with Obi as his running mate.
