Tinubu will get 65% of votes in 2027 poll - Abdulmumin Jibrin

Abdulmumin Jibrin, member representing Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency of Kano, says President Bola Tinubu will poll 65 percent of the total votes cast in the 2027 presidential election.

Jibrin spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Wednesday, where he addressed issues surrounding the president’s second-term bid and the ongoing disagreement between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the APC, defeating Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and then candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The president is seeking re-election on the APC platform, with Atiku and Obi also among the front-runners.

However, Jibrin said Nigeria’s political landscape has changed significantly since the last election, when Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes, representing 36.61 percent of the valid votes cast.

“People are talking about the strength of the various other opposition parties and opposition figures because what they failed to realise is that 2023 is not 2027,” he said.

“I’m telling you this today: the president will have nothing less than 65 percent of the total votes cast.”

Jibrin said the APC has studied opposition figures and their political movements ahead of the election.

“We know them very well and we have our masterplan,” he said.

“Fortunately, I will not be able to say something, but I can give you a 100 percent assurance that we are miles and miles ahead of them. We will win the election.”

Jibrin noted that the outcome of the election, rather than polling, would provide a clearer picture of the political situation in the country.

The legislator said he expected the president to perform better in the north, given recent efforts to correct some of the negative impressions about him among the people.

“Yes, there are challenges. Whoever said he had no challenges is like whoever said the president has not been so much falsely blackmailed in the north. He is lying,” he said.

“But again, we are correcting all of these things. And I will tell you something: the president has never been liked as much as he is at the moment in the northern part of the country.”

Jibrin also defended Wike amid his disagreement with APC governors, describing the FCT minister as “an asset” to the party and a valuable political operator who should not be shoved aside.

“Wike is a fixer, and you need a fixer, and anybody who loves the president and wants us to win this election,” he said.

“I am not saying Wike is a god, but this is not a time to try to embarrass Wike or fight Wike.

“The governors are leaders and elders, so they can manage Wike. I said to you, he has his own idiosyncrasies, but he comes with a value. So, I believe the governors can think of several ways to manage him.”

BACK STORY

Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appointed minister by Tinubu in 2023, is leading the Rainbow Coalition, a cross-party alliance supporting the president’s 2027 re-election bid.

On Monday, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of governors elected on the platform of the APC, said it would not endorse any political arrangement capable of weakening the party or affecting its candidates in the general election.

The minister, however, hit back on Thursday, describing APC governors as “politically lazy”, saying Tinubu is aware of his “Rainbow Coalition” and all his political activities ahead of the 2027 election.