Retired Professor of Sociology and former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner, Lai Olurode, has predicted a landslide victory for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Olurode made the prediction in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES titled, “My Arguments for President Tinubu’s Re-election Bid.”
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He argued that Mr Tinubu’s chances of securing re-election had improved because of a more favourable political environment, improved security and the administration’s willingness to take difficult decisions.
According to him, the president demonstrated political courage by retaining the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the 2023 election despite opposition to the arrangement.
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He said Mr Tinubu’s 2023 performance should also be considered in the context of the political environment at the time, alleging that some members of his party worked against his ambition.
“There was no federal might deployed in his favour. Even some state Governors treated him as a political leper and were afraid of publicly identifying with him,” he said.
Osun election
Mr Olurode also dismissed suggestions that the defeat suffered by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the recent Osun governorship election amounted to a rejection of President Tinubu.
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Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party won the Osun State governorship election, defeating the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
He said he was in Osun during the election and observed that some voters could distinguish between their support for the president and their preference for the state government.
“Only naïve political analysts will interpret this as a vote of no confidence in President Tinubu. The recent voters’ rebellion in Osun state has its own narrative which is for another day but a brief remark will suffice,” he said.
He compared the situation with Lagos State during Mr Tinubu’s tenure as governor between 1999 and 2005 when the state resisted the political dominance of the PDP-led federal government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mr Olurode said the peaceful conduct of the Osun election, despite fears of violence and intimidation, was also a positive indication of the president’s commitment to allowing voters’ choices to prevail.
Subsidy, security, infrastructure
The former INEC commissioner praised Mr Tinubu for removing the petrol subsidy, describing him as a leader willing to take difficult decisions rather than rely on populism.
He also credited the administration with improvements in security. He said intelligence gathering and military operations had helped to weaken banditry.
READ ALSO: Peter Obi speaks on Tinubu, Atikus academic records at 2027 campaign flag-off
On infrastructure, Mr Olurode said the administration had nearly completed 6,000 kilometres of roads in less than four years, compared with more than 9,000 kilometres completed during Mr Buhari’s eight years in office.
He acknowledged that the health sector required stronger intervention and called for the government to reverse the decline in education’s share of the federal budget in 2025 and 2026.
Mr Olurode said these factors could give Mr Tinubu more votes in 2027 than he secured in 2023.
“My personal opinion is that on all these variables alone, President Tinubu is most likely to earn more votes in the 2027 Presidential race than he did in 2023,” he said.
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