Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says some presidential candidates in the 2027 election are not contesting with the intention of winning but to register their presence and make an impression.
Olayinka spoke on Friday during an interview on Arise News while discussing the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election.
He said the number of presidential candidates on the ballot did not necessarily mean that all of them had a realistic chance of winning.
“So it is not everybody that contests elections that wants to win. There are people that contest elections just to register their presence. For instance, in this 2027 election, we have 19 presidential candidates,” he said.
“Can we say honestly that all the 19 are contesting with the mindset of winning? The answer is no.”
Olayinka cited the 2023 performance of Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), as an example.
“For instance, the candidate of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, had 14,600 votes in 2023. How would that person win the election next year? They know that they cannot win.
“They are just contesting.”
He also questioned the chances of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party of Peter Obi, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate.
“Even NDC, the party of Peter Obi, they know they cannot win the election. They are just contesting to try to register their presence,” Olayinka said.
He argued that a party’s grassroots structure and presence across states would be critical to its ability to compete effectively in a presidential election.
“You don’t have a governorship candidate in 15 states. You only have it in 13. There was an election in Ekiti and Osun recently.
“NDC did not field candidates. How do you win an election when you don’t have people on ground to canvass votes for you, to manage elections for you?”
Olayinka said political parties needed substantial personnel at polling units to effectively manage their operations on election day.
“In Nigeria today, there are 176,846 polling units. To make good impression on election day, you need at least five people to manage each polling unit for you.
“At least. You need five people. We have done elections before, so we know what it is.
“It is not about making noise.”
