During the 2023 general election, Olusola Adebayo was excited when he heard that one of the governorship candidates will be coming to Ikotun to campaign. On the day, he saw a high level movement of people with same attire moving towards the local council secretariat as early as 8 a.m. Around 10 a.m., he decided to visit the campaign ground and was taken aback when he saw that the people gathered there were just dancing to music being dished out by a deejay amid the intermittent announcement of the arrival of party leaders and dignitaries.

According to him, those who were not dancing and singing were discussing and gossiping. He said that it was around 1 p.m. that they were told the governorship candidate had promised he was still coming.

Adebayo disclosed that around some minutes to 2 p.m., the candidate and his team arrived and the tempo of euphoria in the venue doubled. He added that the candidate did not say much about identified challenges peculiar to the Ikotun corridor and how he planned to solve them but spoke for less than three minutes and that was the end of the rally.

Adebayo stated that there were other candidates for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate seats, who never spoke about their agenda for the people.

“I cannot not even remember if they were introduced as contestants or their names were just announced when they arrived at the venue,” he added.

Adebayo stated that most rallies are attended by hired crowd and party faithful. He added that it is usually very odd to see just an average citizen at the venue wanting to attend the rallies as part of the process for him to make informed decisions on election day.

“Those who are not party members are usually those who came to do petty business. The atmosphere is usually politically partisan and that makes it unfriendly for non-party people to show up,” he stated.

As the country begins the countdown to the 2027 polls, personal attacks, petty talks and propaganda are gradually taking the lead, without deliberate efforts to question the candidates. Party supporters and members are all over the social media abusing each other, sometimes threatening fellow citizens as witnessed in the just concluded Osun election.  This is usually the case during elections in Nigeria. Yet, every election should offer a community or a nation an opportunity to hold a conversation with itself. It is a moment to ask difficult questions, weigh competing ideas and decide which path promises a better future.

Unfortunately, Nigerians have too often allowed that conversation to be drowned by the noise of insults, political vendetta, ethnic sentiments and manufactured controversies. As preparations for the 2027 elections gather pace, the country cannot afford another campaign defined by personalities rather than policies. The debate should shift from who can ridicule an opponent to who can revive the economy, secure communities, strengthen institutions and improve the quality of life for ordinary citizens. The greatest gift politicians can offer Nigerians is not clever slogans or viral attacks, but practical ideas capable of transforming the nation. To achieve this, campaigns must be issues-based.

Speaking on why Nigeria needs issues-based campaigns, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Ibadan, Emmanual Olugbade Ojo, noted that one of the major canons of democracy is about choices and an electorate cannot make a good choice if campaigns are not issues-based.

His words: “Unfortunately, in third world countries, there are no quality campaigns aside from deceit. Don’t forget, I was in government for five years. I was the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the late governor Ajimobi in Oyo State, and in the second term I was his Chief of Staff; so I am talking from practical experience.

“When campaigns begin, politicians will be busy with road shows and jamboree across streets rather than campaigning to the electorate, saying what they would do for the electorate when they get into government. But our politicians are deceitful; they play on the ignorance and intelligence of the electorate. They are promising nothing, so when they get into government and they are doing nothing, how would you blame them?

“Ordinarily, they are supposed to have sent out people to collect data on what is the need of a particular local council, so that when they go to campaign or get into government, they meet that need. Unfortunately, our government will be building schools in a community where they need hospitals; they will be building hospitals in a community where they need potable water; in a community where they need to grade roads, they will be building maternity centres that are not needed.

“There are villages with less than 100 residents; you will see a lot of new classrooms unoccupied because that village doesn’t need the number of classrooms built there. That means the government is doing the wrong thing. At the federal level, if you are campaigning in Akwa Ibom, what can your government do that they will appreciate; if you are campaigning in Oyo State, what can your government do that the residents of Oyo State can appreciate? But rather than that, they are doing the wrong thing.

“How do you explain a government that has budgeted for mosques and churches? Was it part of their campaign that government will be building churches and mosques? Is it the responsibility of government? So, our politicians don’t know anything about campaigns; they just go out with a popular musician to draw a crowd. The crowd will be dancing from morning till evening; the politicians will come to the campaign stage and wave at the people, sing choruses, use abusive language on the opposition and engage in a campaign of calumny.

“Let me give you a practical example. In Oyo State, when I was in government, the late President Buhari came to campaign for his second term in Ibadan. I took a sheet of paper. I wrote what he should promise the South West. I gave it to my governor to give Buhari and he gave it to him.  They were just shouting, ‘sai baba, sai baba, you don win,’ and he said thank you for coming to everybody and he left. Has he campaigned?

“So, you will see other candidates come to the campaign ground with trailers and trucks throwing biscuits at people, throwing N200, N500 at people, throwing rice, garri and kulikuli at people. Is that campaigning?

“That is why vote-buying is now rampant. People will get to the polling unit and just vote for the person who gives them cash right there, whether that person will do anything meaningful when they get to government or not.

“You will also discover that before the presidential election, the media will organise media chat for candidates. Some candidates will not come to face the media to tell the society what they would do when they get there so that people can hold them accountable.”

Similarly, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, stated that there is an urgent need for political parties, candidates, citizens and other democratic stakeholders to shift the conversation away from frivolities, personality attacks, ethnic and religious sentiments, and other distractions to the real issues affecting Nigerians.

“Elections should not merely be contests for political power; they should be opportunities for citizens to interrogate competing visions, policies and programmes for the future of the country. At CISLAC, we believe Nigerians deserve an electioneering process that places national interest, accountability and development at the centre of political discourse,” he said.

He stated that issues-based campaign matters because elections are ultimately about deciding who should be entrusted with public power and resources. Citizens therefore need sufficient information to assess the competence, character, policies and priorities of those seeking their votes.

“Nigeria is confronted by significant challenges— economic hardship, unemployment, insecurity, poverty, weak public institutions, poor infrastructure, deficits in education and healthcare, and declining public trust. These are too serious to be overshadowed by name-calling, propaganda, personality cults, ethnic mobilisation or attacks on opponents.

“An issues-based campaign gives citizens the opportunity to ask candidates fundamental questions: What is your plan? How will you finance it? What are your priorities? What measurable outcomes should Nigerians expect? What will you do differently from previous administrations? How will you ensure transparency and accountability? It also strengthens democracy because it enables voters to make informed choices based on policies and performance rather than sentiments, inducements or misinformation.

“Most importantly, an issues-based campaign can help move Nigeria from politics of personalities to politics of ideas, policies and public interest. The quality of political debate ultimately influences the quality of governance we get after elections,” Rafsanjani said.

Also commenting, Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Mamedu, stated that an issues-based campaign is not optional for Nigeria but a democratic necessity. He insisted that Nigeria cannot afford another election dominated by ethnicity, religion, personality contests and attacks on opponents while the real struggles of citizens are pushed aside.

“The World Bank projects that 62 per cent of Nigerians, about 141 million people, will be living in poverty in 2026. Nigeria’s public debt stood at N159.35 trillion as of March 2026. Across the country, families are struggling with food prices, unemployment and declining access to essential services, while insecurity continues to displace communities and prevent farmers from accessing their land. These are not abstract statistics. They represent people skipping meals, children leaving school and families unable to afford healthcare.

“An issues-based campaign compels candidates to move beyond slogans and explain what they will do, how they will fund it, when citizens should expect results and how progress will be measured. Elections must be a contest of ideas and solutions. That is how citizens make informed choices and obtain clear commitments against which elected leaders can be held accountable.” Mamedu said.

Now that campaign has officially kicked-off, many politicians and their political parties can hold rallies in different locations across the country. It is expected that they would seize the opportunity to showcase their ideas on major issues that are confronting the average citizen.

Nigeria’s electricity challenge is still evident in 2026. The country is only able to deliver about 4,000 megawatts of electricity to more than 200 million people. Also, the World Bank, in its April 2026 Nigeria Development Update, noted that Nigeria’s under-five mortality rate was around 110 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning about 40 per cent of children were stunted, and more than half of the children were failing to meet developmental milestones before school age.

Similarly, the World Bank assessment estimated that more Nigerians fell below the national poverty line in 2025, putting the estimated national poverty rate at approximately 63 per cent. The bank also noted that food inflation disproportionately affects poor households because they can spend as much as 70 per cent of their income on food.

Furthermore, Afrobarometer’s Nigeria survey, conducted in 2024 and reported in 2025, found that 79 per cent of Nigerians experienced moderate or high levels of lived poverty; while 82 per cent reported shortages of food and medical care, 74 per cent reported shortages of water and 79 per cent reported shortages of cooking fuel.

The World Bank estimates that approximately 3.5 million Nigerians enter the labour force every year. This means Nigeria cannot solve its employment challenge through occasional government recruitment exercises or temporary empowerment programmes. It requires a continuously expanding productive economy. These figures provide perhaps the clearest reason the 2027 campaign must be issues-based.

On how to ensure that issues-based campaigns remain central to the 2027 polls, Rafsanjani said that it requires deliberate action from all stakeholders.

“The 2027 election must be more than a competition for votes; it should be a competition of ideas and visions for Nigeria. First, political parties and candidates must set the tone. They should commit publicly to issues-based campaigns and discourage their spokespersons, supporters and campaign structures from spreading inflammatory rhetoric, misinformation and personal attacks.

“Second, political parties should participate in structured public debates and policy engagements where candidates are required to respond to the same set of questions. Nigerians should be able to compare candidates based on their positions on the economy, security, education, healthcare, corruption, electoral reform and other national priorities.

“Third, civil society organisations should develop citizen-centred campaign scorecards and policy trackers that monitor what candidates are saying, identify contradictions and assess the feasibility of their promises. This will make it more difficult for politicians to escape scrutiny by changing the subject to personal attacks.

“Fourth, the media should give greater prominence to policy, manifesto and performance analysis rather than allowing sensational comments, political insults and social-media controversies to dominate election coverage. Where politicians make claims, journalists should fact-check them and provide citizens with the relevant context.

“Fifth, citizens themselves have a responsibility. Voters should demand answers from candidates and reject attempts to distract them from issues that affect their lives. Political parties and candidates will continue to exploit whatever attracts public attention. Citizens must therefore make policy and performance the currency of political engagement,” he said.

For Rafsanjani, religious leaders have enormous influence in Nigerian communities and should use that influence responsibly by encouraging peaceful participation, rejecting hate speech and political violence, and reminding their congregations that political choices should not be reduced to religious or ethnic identity.

“They should encourage citizens to evaluate candidates based on competence, integrity, policies and their commitment to the common good,” he added.

He emphasised that there should also be sustained fact-checking and rapid response to misinformation and disinformation, particularly on social media.

“Political actors should not be allowed to deliberately create controversy simply to avoid answering difficult questions,” Rafsanjani stated.

For Ojo, when the country’s democracy begins to grow, the electorate will understand how to vote, what to vote for and what is the priority of the society.

“But for now, politicians have made people super poor, extremely poor.  So, people are concerned with surviving – how to eat three square meals in a day. The truth is that our democracy is still young and the level of education is still low. If you want to do this issues-based campaign, how many of them have access to television? Where is the electricity for them to watch it? If you are a print journalist, professors cannot buy newspapers everyday; I buy two on a weekly basis.   “So, even if you are talking based on issues, how do you communicate with the electorate? How will they know when they cannot buy newspapers to read? So, there are so many limitations; the level of literacy is very low, poverty is rampant and hypocrisy is much in this country.”

Ojo also noted that some Nigerians do not see their civil obligation as essential. “In fact, if movement is not restricted, people will not care to vote. Look at the last presidential election. In a country of over 200 million human beings, Mr. President got there with eight million plus votes. From the number of registered voters to the number of actual voters you will see that it has made nonsense of our democracy.

The position of Ojo is supported by data because out of the 93,469,008 registered voters for the 2023 general election, only about 27 per cent turned out for the presidential election.

Ojo insisted that the level of participation is still very low, arguing that issues-based campaigns are essential but involve a lot of things.

“How do you reach the electorate? That is why politicians pump a lot of money into elections because they know they have not communicated unlike in the Second Republic.

“I can recall that most Nigerians knew the cardinal programmes of Awolowo’s UPN – free education, free healthcare and housing for all. Today, what are the cardinal programmes of our political parties?  When you go to social media, they bamboozle the youth and tell lies. That is why there are no opposition parties. Issues-based campaigns are essential for our democracy to develop,” Ojo said.

To Mamedu, it would require deliberate and sustained action. “Civil society organisations, professional bodies and citizens should develop a common citizens’ agenda and use it to assess every party and candidate. Debates and town halls must require candidates to answer direct questions: what exactly will you do? How much will it cost? Where will the money come from? When will it be delivered? How will Nigerians measure success?

“The media must exercise editorial discipline by consistently returning discussions to policies, records and measurable commitments. Personal attacks and inflammatory remarks should not receive more prominence than serious policy proposals simply because they attract attention. Claims made by candidates must be fact-checked promptly, while misinformation and hate speech should be challenged before they take root.

“Citizens also have power. When voters reject vote-buying, stop rewarding insults and demand credible answers, political behaviour will begin to change. Every campaign promise should be documented and tracked beyond election day. An issues-based campaign becomes sustainable when candidates understand that Nigerians will remember their promises and demand an account of their performance,” he said.

On the issues that should top the debates and campaign as the country goes into the general election, Mamedu stated that the campaign agenda must begin with the issues keeping Nigerians awake at night: food, income, safety, essential services and the future of their children.

“First is poverty, inequality and decent employment. Candidates must present credible plans to create dignified jobs, support small businesses, strengthen social protection and ensure that economic growth improves people’s lives. Nigerians cannot eat GDP figures; economic progress must be measured by whether families can afford food, housing, healthcare and education.

“Second is food security. Candidates must explain how they will support smallholder farmers, especially women farmers, address insecurity in farming communities, strengthen local food systems, reduce post-harvest losses and respond to the growing effects of climate change.

“Third is security and access to justice. Nigerians deserve practical, properly funded and rights-respecting plans for preventing kidnappings, violent attacks and other forms of insecurity. These plans must address both immediate threats and their underlying causes.

“Fourth is investment in education, healthcare, water and other essential public services. Every candidate should state what proportion of public resources will be committed to these services and how improvements will reach underserved communities.

“Fifth is public finance and accountability. By the third quarter of 2025, only 17.7 per cent of that year’s capital budget had been released. Candidates must explain how they will improve budget implementation, manage Nigeria’s debt responsibly, reduce waste and ensure that every naira spent delivers measurable public value.”

Mamedu added that electoral integrity, gender equality and inclusive governance must be central while candidates must commit to respecting INEC’s independence, the rule of law and the rights of women, young people and persons with disabilities to participate meaningfully in political leadership.