Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has said some presidential candidates in the 2027 election are not contesting to win, but to register their presence.
Olayinka stated this during an interview on Arise News on Friday while discussing the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election.
He said the number of candidates on the ballot did not mean all of them were contesting with the intention of winning, citing the 2023 performance of the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, and the 2027 candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, as examples.
Olayinka said: ‘So, it is not everybody that contests elections that wants to win. There are people that contest elections just to register their presence. For instance, in this 2027 election, we have 19 presidential candidates.
‘For instance, the candidate of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, had 14,600 votes in 2023. How would that person win the election next year? They know that they cannot win. They are just contesting,’ he said.
He also extended his argument to the party of former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the NDC, Peter Obi.
‘Even NDC, the party of Peter Obi, they know they cannot win the election. They are just contesting to try to register their presence.’
According to Olayinka, a party’s grassroots structure and presence across states would also be critical to its ability to compete effectively in a presidential election.
‘You don’t have a governorship candidate in 15 states. You only have it in 13. There was an election in Ekiti and Osun recently.
‘NDC did not field candidates. How do you win an election when you don’t have people on ground to canvass votes for you, to manage elections for you?’
He said political parties needed substantial personnel at polling units to effectively manage their operations on election day.
‘In Nigeria today, there are 176,846 polling units. To make a good impression on election day, you need at least five people to manage each polling unit for you.
‘At least. You need five people. We have done elections before, so we know what it is. It is not about making noise,’ he said.