By Mahmoud
Former Kano State Governor and APC senatorial candidate for Kano Central, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has urged members of the ruling All Progressives Congress to temper their optimism ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at a political gathering in Kano over the weekend, Shekarau warned that the party’s current strength in the states, with 30 governors under its banner, should not be mistaken for an automatic path to victory at the polls.
Shekarau said while having a large number of governors can help with grassroots mobilization and party structure, it does not guarantee support from the electorate.
According to him, the APC risks becoming complacent if it assumes that control of state governments alone will deliver the presidency in 2027.
He called on party leaders to focus instead on performance, engagement with citizens, and addressing the everyday concerns of Nigerians.
To buttress his point, the former governor drew a direct comparison to 2015. He recalled that the Peoples Democratic Party went into that election with a significant number of governors across the country, far more than the opposition at the time.
Despite that advantage in state control, the PDP lost the presidential election to the APC.
“The PDP had more governors in 2015 but still lost,” Shekarau said. “That should tell us something.
Numbers on paper do not translate directly to votes on election day. The people will look at what has been done, what has not been done, and then they will decide.”
The senator emphasized that elections in Nigeria are ultimately determined by voters, not by the political offices held by party members.
He argued that citizens are becoming more aware and less driven by party loyalty alone. Issues such as the economy, security, education, and cost of living, he noted, now weigh more heavily in how people cast their ballots than the influence of any governor.
With 2027 approaching, Shekarau said the APC must shift its strategy from celebrating its current dominance in the states to proving its value to Nigerians. He suggested town halls, constituency projects, and direct communication with communities as more effective tools than relying on the machinery of state governments.
Shekarau, who has served both as governor and minister, is viewed within the APC as a veteran with experience in winning and losing elections in the North. His comments come amid early political positioning ahead of 2027, with both the APC and opposition parties already signaling their intentions. Some party members in Kano reportedly received his remarks as a call for introspection rather than criticism.
In closing, Shekarau reiterated that no party should take the electorate for granted. “The real power lies with Nigerian voters, not governors,” he said. “It is citizens who ultimately decide the outcome of elections. If we do well, they will reward us. If we don’t, no number of governors will save us.”
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