As the jostling for the presidential seat in the 2027 elections heats up, all may not be well for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East as a chieftain of the party, Josef Onoh, warned that the party faces a herculean task in the region, just as the upcoming polls are expected to witness different mentality and attitude from the electorate.

Speaking with Sunday Tribune, Onoh, who was the South-East spokesman of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 general election, stated that despite the APC holding executive power in three of the five states in the region, state control will likely not translate to popular votes in the presidential election.

Onoh blamed this forecast on the South-East suffering the “highest political marginalisation” under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking re-election in 2027.

In a separate interview with Sunday Tribune, the Lagos Central senatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Ladipo Johnson, observed that the August 15 governorship election in Osun State signalled new electoral attitude and mentality among Nigerians, warning that politicians will face a different electorate in the 2027 polls.

According to Johnson, politicians planning to induce voters with money or subject them to intimidation would find it difficult going by what the nation witnessed during the recent Osun governorship election.

The lesson Nigerians learned in that election, he said, was that they could make their votes count by resisting any attempt by politicians to hijack their franchise. (Nigerian Tribune)