Who Is Your Candidate Come February 2027? – By Hafsat Salisu Kabara

THIS question has been lingering in my head since the middle of this year, when subtle campaigns began creeping into our political space. Apparently, we are tired of this administration; we need a saviour, but who will be our knight in shining armour? Or, more importantly, are we about to exchange one set of problems for another, with a different campaign song?

Are we going to vote for the same administration that many of us believe has caused us more harm than good? On its very first day, fuel subsidy was removed, and Nigerians began watching their lives flash before their eyes before the inauguration ceremony was even over. Prices skyrocketed.

You dare not visit the market this week and return next week expecting the same prices. Everything seems to be failing, and the cost of merely existing keeps rising. Let us not even begin with the terrifying reality of insecurity.

Last week, almost every Nigerian came across the video of a man abducted in Kaduna State alongside his family, including their seven-month-old baby. I tried everything to skip the traumatising footage, but it kept appearing on my feed. I just prayed for them and silently added, “May Nigeria never happen to us.” When I finally saw the video, the images stayed with me; I could barely sleep that night.

These people were abducted from the one place they should have felt safest — their home. They weren’t on a highway, in a market, or even out on the streets. No, they were in the comfort of their own homes, yet even there, safety was an illusion. They were forcibly taken away.

How did that baby survive in the bush, with little or no protection from the rain, sun, cold, insects and reptiles? A man who should be protecting his family from danger was held at gunpoint. A woman who had “allegedly” waited seven years to conceive was forced to endure such cruelty, almost naked, while watching the baby she had prayed and laboured for suffer in unimaginable circumstances. Is this not the height of human cruelty?

They were eventually released, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Alhamdulillah! Nigerians celebrated with them, grateful that their ordeal had ended, but somewhere in the back of my mind was another thought: we would be waiting for the next victim.

I mean no harm to anyone, and I would never wish such cruelty on another family, not even my enemies, but this is our reality. Worse has happened, and too often, we have watched the outrage fade without seeing the accountability or lasting change we desperately need. The Zakka family were among the fortunate ones whose ordeal gained enough attention online to force the nation to look. The hashtags spread, Nigerians became visibly angry, and the story dominated our feeds, but are we angry enough?

Because while ordinary Nigerians are living through these terrifying realities, our aspirants are busy dancing on campaign stages. Must campaigning involve dancing to the same music while the people they hope to govern are grieving, struggling and praying simply to survive? Maybe we should applaud the dance steps. After all, insecurity may be ravaging the country, but the campaign choreography must go on.

Well, enough about an administration many Nigerians are desperate to replace, because we can go on and on listing its failures and still not exhaust the list. The bigger question is: who exactly are we replacing it with?

Is the PDP candidate the answer? A man who has contested presidential elections repeatedly, dating back to 1993, and has yet to become president. Even though his 1993 contest was in the Social Democratic Party’s presidential primary, which he withdrew from.

At what point does persistence give way to the question of whether the country needs a fresh face and a different approach? We are not short of experience; we are short of convincing answers. After so many attempts, are we genuinely expecting a different outcome simply because the year has changed?

And before anyone accuses me of dismissing experience, let us be clear: persistence is admirable, but repeated ambition is not, by itself, a governance plan. Politics is expensive, and campaigns do not run on prayers alone. A businessman only counts gain, not loss, and it’s an established fact that Atiku is a businessman, so Nigerians deserve to know what candidates owe, who finances their ambitions, and what interests might come calling when the bills are due.

Are you leaning towards O.K., seeing that they both kind of had chances previously?

Both have held public office and have records Nigerians can examine, but having had opportunities to govern at state level does not automatically answer every question about leading a country as complex as Nigeria. Can they deliver nationwide results? Can they build strong teams, unite a divided country and present credible plans for security, the economy and our institutions? Popularity is one thing; governing Nigeria is another.

And let us not forget our political history. We have watched the contest move from PDP versus APP to PDP versus ANPP, PDP versus CPC, and eventually PDP versus APC. Different party names, familiar political faces, recycled promises and, sometimes, the same old disappointments in fresh packaging. Meanwhile, any candidate outside the familiar political establishment is often treated as an experiment, a protest vote or an invitation to follow the bandwagon.

Now, as February 2027 approaches, we are once again being asked to choose. But between an administration many desperately want to replace and alternatives that leave serious questions unanswered, one cannot help but wonder: do we even have a candidate? What exactly are we voting for: a person, a party, a movement, or a credible plan to rescue a country that is running out of patience?

It is one thing to want a government out; it is another to find someone you can confidently trust to take over. We cannot keep choosing out of anger, sentiment or desperation and then spend four years regretting our choices. And that is our greatest political tragedy: not that Nigerians do not want change, but that we are still searching for a candidate who makes that change feel believable.

So, who is your candidate come February 2027? And more importantly, do we actually have one?

Voice, just cleared its throat!

Kabara is a writer and public commentator. Her syndicated column, Voice, appears in News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday. She can be reached at hafceekay01@gmail.com.