2027: ‘Tinubu’s Political Empire Won’t Survive Free Poll’ – Baba-Ahmed Predicts Defeat By 4pm

• PRP National Chairman Hakeem Baba-Ahmed predicts that President Bola Tinubu could be defeated before 4pm on the 2027 election day if Nigerians are allowed to vote in a genuinely free, fair and credible presidential election.

• Baba-Ahmed says the APC’s defeat in the recent Osun governorship election has exposed the limits of incumbency and political control, arguing that the ruling party was beaten despite controlling the Federal Government and facing no united opposition coalition.

• The PRP chairman describes the APC as “a monster eating itself up and eating everybody up,” questioning how Tinubu could remain politically vulnerable despite the reported backing of 31 governors and about 75 per cent of the National Assembly.

• Baba-Ahmed warns that INEC’s real credibility test will come in 2027 when it conducts a presidential election involving an incumbent, cautioning that any failure to deliver a free and fair poll could pose a “very serious threat” to Nigeria’s democracy.

August 20, () — National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has declared that President Bola Tinubu’s formidable political machinery will not survive a genuinely free and fair election, predicting that the president could be defeated as early as 4pm on election day in 2027.

Baba-Ahmed said the outcome of the recent Osun State governorship election had exposed the vulnerability of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), arguing that control of the Federal Government, state governments and a dominant bloc in the National Assembly could not guarantee victory when voters were allowed to freely determine the outcome.

The PRP chairman made the declaration while featuring on MEDIA TODAY’s Politics Today on Wednesday, as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections.

His prediction came with a strong warning that the credibility of the 2027 election could determine not only the fate of Tinubu and the APC but also the stability of Nigeria’s democratic system.

“If it’s a credible, free and fair election, I assure you, Tinubu will lose. I won’t say before 12 noon. Maybe before 4 pm,” Baba-Ahmed said.

Osun Defeat Exposes APC’s Vulnerability

Baba-Ahmed said the Osun governorship election had demonstrated that the APC could be defeated even without a broad opposition coalition or coordinated alliance against it. He argued that the result was significant because the opposition parties contested separately, yet the APC was still defeated.

“APC was trounced in Osun. We didn’t even see a coalition or collaboration or a gang-up against the APC. Parties all competed against one another. Yet, APC was defeated,” he said.

According to him, the development should serve as a warning to the ruling party ahead of the presidential election, because the factors that produced the Osun result could potentially be replicated nationwide.

“There’s no reason why this cannot repeat itself at a national level,” he added.

Baba-Ahmed rejected suggestions that the Osun result was the product of an understanding between President Tinubu and Governor Ademola Adeleke, insisting that his assessment was based on the capacity of voters to defeat a ruling party through the ballot.

For him, the central lesson from Osun was that political dominance does not necessarily translate into electoral dominance.

The PRP chairman also launched a blistering attack on the internal workings of the APC, describing the ruling party in unusually harsh terms.

“APC is not a party. It is a monster eating itself up and eating everybody up,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed argued that the enormous political strength accumulated by Tinubu had failed to eliminate uncertainty about the president’s re-election prospects.

He pointed to the number of governors and lawmakers supporting the president, saying such political dominance should ordinarily give an incumbent considerable confidence going into a presidential election.

“You have a president who appears to have garnered the support of 31 governors and quite possibly about 75 per cent of the National Assembly around him in his party, and he is still living in fear that it is not enough,” he said.

He said the situation was politically “monstrous”, arguing that the president’s concentration of political influence had not translated into certainty at the ballot box.

The PRP chairman acknowledged that defeating Tinubu and removing the APC from power would not be an easy task. He noted that the president had built considerable political influence across the country, including support from a large number of governors and a substantial majority in the National Assembly.

But he argued that the scale of the president’s political control was itself evidence of the unusual concentration of power surrounding the Tinubu administration. He maintained that such influence would become irrelevant if the electoral process allowed Nigerians to freely express their preferences.

Baba-Ahmed Warns INEC Against Premature Praise

Baba-Ahmed also cautioned against prematurely congratulating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of elections ahead of 2027.

He said the real test of the commission would come when it conducts a presidential election in which an incumbent president is a contestant.

“Nobody should praise INEC until it can actually conduct an election in which the President is a contestant,” he said.

According to him, the credibility of the electoral process would be critical to determining whether Nigerians accept the eventual outcome of the 2027 election. He warned that the consequences of failing to conduct a credible election could be severe.

The PRP leader said millions of Nigerians were angry and were looking to the ballot box as a legitimate avenue to express their frustrations.

“I hope the election will be credible, free and fair. If it’s not, I foresee a very serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy,” he said, adding that Nigerians “desperately want an opportunity to express their anger through the ballot” and warned that interfering with that opportunity would amount to playing with the future of the country.