By Osaretin Osadebamwen
The National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has predicted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would lose the 2027 presidential election if the poll was conducted in a credible, free and fair manner.
Baba-Ahmed, who made the prediction while speaking on a television programme, said the outcome would not necessarily require a formal coalition of opposition parties, insisting that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could be defeated through a credible electoral process.
“If it is a credible, free and fair election, I assure you Tinubu will lose. I won’t say before 12 noon. Maybe before 4pm,” he stated.
His prediction came amid heightened political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections. Political parties and presidential candidates had on Tuesday signed a national peace accord ahead of the commencement of the campaign season.
Baba-Ahmed pointed to the recent Osun State governorship election as evidence that the APC could be defeated without a united opposition front.
According to him, the APC had been “trounced” in Osun despite the absence of a formal coalition among opposition parties.
“We didn’t see a coalition or collaboration—a gang-up against APC. The parties all competed against each other. And yet APC was defeated,” he had said.
He had also rejected speculation that the APC’s defeat in Osun was the result of an alleged political arrangement between President Tinubu and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke.
“We believe that the opposition party defeated APC comprehensively. And there’s no reason why this cannot be repeated at a national level,” he had stated.
Baba-Ahmed had maintained that although opposition parties could work together, a formal coalition might not be necessary or legally practical because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already registered the parties separately.
“Parties will collaborate in some form, but there may not be any coalition,” he said.
He added that opposition parties were exploring “all the options that are available”, predicting that Nigerians could witness a significant political development in the weeks ahead.
The PRP chairman had further argued that the APC’s growing political strength was more pronounced among politicians than ordinary Nigerians.
“You have a party that is popular among politicians, not among the people. The party to whom everybody is running,” he said.
He had described the movement of politicians into the ruling party as “mechanical” rather than organic, alleging that political inducements and promises of re-election were contributing to the defections.
“So the movement into the APC is not organic as far as we’re concerned. It’s mechanical and it is designed. And it is very, very damaging to this country’s democracy,” he stated.
Baba-Ahmed also criticised what he described as the APC’s concentration of political power, alleging that President Tinubu had secured the support of 31 governors and about 75 per cent of National Assembly members.
He described the ruling party as “a monster eating itself up and eating everybody up”, while accusing the administration of prioritising political consolidation over governance.
The PRP chairman had also accused the President of being detached from the realities confronting Nigerians, particularly over the gap between macroeconomic indicators and citizens’ living conditions.
“I have said so many times. I have no hesitation in saying so. He is thoroughly detached from the reality,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed argued that improvements in macroeconomic indicators could not, on their own, demonstrate that Nigerians were better off.
“The best way to verify this is not to look at figures and statistics. They must translate into the lives of real human beings,” he had stated.
He had specifically cited poverty, food insecurity and economic hardship, arguing that Nigerians were experiencing conditions that could not be adequately captured by government statistics.
On the political strength of the President, Baba-Ahmed had maintained that governors and political office holders should not be equated with the Nigerian people.
“Governors are not the people. Governors were elected by the people. They abandoned the people and went to Tinubu’s Villa,” he said.
He further warned that the credibility of the 2027 election would be critical to Nigeria’s democratic stability.
Baba-Ahmed had expressed concern that millions of Nigerians were angry and wanted to use the ballot box to register their dissatisfaction with the government.
“There are millions of Nigerians who are very, very angry. They desperately want an opportunity to express their anger through their ballot, and it is very important that we allow them to exercise that right,” he said.
He had consequently warned that any attempt to compromise the electoral process could have serious consequences for the country.
“I hope the election will be credible, free and fair. If it isn’t, I foresee a very serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy,” Baba-Ahmed had stated.
His comments had reinforced his earlier public position that he intended to work toward preventing Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. In May, Baba-Ahmed had similarly said he would work to remove Tinubu from the presidency, arguing that defeating the APC was possible if opposition forces combined their resources and energy.
The PRP chairman’s latest position had therefore placed electoral credibility, opposition cooperation and public dissatisfaction at the centre of the emerging 2027 political contest.
With the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027, the contest had increasingly shifted from speculation about whether the opposition could challenge the APC to questions about how effectively it could translate public dissatisfaction into electoral support.
