KADUNA, NIGERIA — Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has dismissed the influence of online opposition, asserting that President Bola Tinubu will secure a landslide re-election in 2027 regardless of the narratives trending on social media.
Speaking during a live interview on Thursday, May 7, 2026, the Governor argued that there is a vast disconnect between the digital world and the reality of Nigerian grassroots politics. He noted that if the contest were decided by online activity, the President might face an uphill battle, but the reality of the Nigerian electoral system favors the incumbent’s ground game.
“If the election is going to be conducted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or social media, Asiwaju will lose,” Sani stated. “But if it is people who will vote through the ballot at polling units, he is going to win 70% of the votes cast.”
The Ghost of 2023
The Governor’s confidence in the “physical ballot” comes as a reminder of the deep-seated controversies that trailed the 2023 general election. For many Nigerians, the reliability of the polling unit tally remains a sensitive subject following the events of February 2023.
During that election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) faced nationwide outcry after the presidential election result transmission process suffered a mysterious technical failure. While results for the National Assembly were uploaded to the IReV portal, the presidential tally system reportedly shut down, preventing the real-time public verification of results from the polling units. This “glitch” remains a central point of debate for those who question the transparency of the final physical count.
Grassroots Over Gadgets
Governor Sani, however, insists that the President’s political machinery is built for the field rather than the internet. He argued that the administration’s focus on state-level development has consolidated a base of rural voters who do not participate in digital debates.
He expressed total confidence that the 2027 cycle will prove once again that trending hashtags do not translate into actual power at the polling booth, predicting that the APC’s traditional structure will dominate the physical vote count.
