By Mobolaji Sanusi “Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.”— Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986). After the recent off-season governorship election in Ekiti State, in which Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was re-elected, the attention of the entire nation has shifted to the governorship election taking place in Osun State this Saturday. The incumbent governor of Osun, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, is seeking re-election. Nigerians will stay glued to their news gadgets, hoping to see the true wishes of Osun voters reflected in the outcome. Beyond Osun’s election, the bigger picture is the lifting of the ban on electioneering campaigns by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 general elections. From this month of August, a frenzied political atmosphere is expected to unfold. The reason is not far-fetched. The upcoming 2027 general elections are another democratic transition in which the incumbent President, Bola Tinubu, GCFR, a respected political strategist, is seeking re-election, while his one-time political ally turned rival and veteran presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alongside the opposition bloc, including Peter Obi, will be trying to wrest power from him. Clearly, an interesting period lies ahead, as dislodging an incumbent of Tinubu’s mould will be a Herculean task. On August 19, 2026, the first phase of the campaign window, according to INEC, will open for presidential and National Assembly contestants, while the second phase, for governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, will open on September 9. In the coming weeks, acts that previously constituted breaches of the Electoral Act’s restrictions on political campaigns and mobilisation will no longer be illegal. As of today, virtually all members of the leading political parties have engaged in one form of illegal campaign or another, in clear violation of Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022. The subsection under reference prohibits the commencement of campaigns earlier than 150 days before polling day, but curiously with no punishment spelt out for infractions. However, under Section 94(2), the Act provides a maximum penalty of N500,000 upon conviction of any political party or person acting on its behalf who engages in campaigns 24 hours before polling day. It is no wonder that politicians wantonly exploit the lacuna created by the absence of any stated punishment for early campaigns. From August 19, the public will witness lawful political rallies, accompanied by grandiose promises and often comical endorsements. Getting the desires of the people fulfilled has become arduous because most politicians are insincere and political parties in the country are not formed along ideological lines. To the average party leader in contemporary politics, that important political document called a manifesto signifies nothing. In reality, most of them have not read a single line of their party’s manifesto. Politicians join parties only as a matter of expediency, not because of what the party offers the people and the country. This is unlike what obtained during the era of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the revered elder statesman, whose Action Group (AG) and later Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) had well-enunciated cardinal programmes in their manifestos, compelling states won by the party to implement them to the letter thereby earning the party public acclaim. This standardised programme of action, which included free and compulsory education at all levels, free healthcare, affordable housing and sustainable employment, made the UPN the party of preference. All these can still be replicated in contemporary Nigeria but for leadership’s lack of political will and misplacement of priorities. At the time, these UPN programmes created a unique brand for the party in the states it controlled, making it difficult for the opposition National Party of Nigeria (NPN) to wrest power from it in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo and Bendel. The mismanagement of the country by the NPN-led Federal Government and the attempt to forcefully wrest power from Awolowo’s UPN in its areas of comparative advantage largely contributed to the military putsch of 1983. Unfortunately, no modern political party has come close to Awolowo’s standardised cardinal programme for UPN, whether at the state or federal level. Elected governors from all existing political parties unilaterally decide what policies suit their whims and caprices and easily decamp from one party to another, not because of any ideological advantage for their people, but simply in pursuit of personal greed and survival. Some of them do not even bother to consider the ideology of the party they have joined or decamped to. In recent
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